Anna Eshoo: “Mr. Speaker, we are debating an energy bill which does plenty for energy companies, but does precious little for energy…”

“Mr. Speaker, we are debating an energy bill which does plenty for energy companies, but does precious little for energy consumers. The elephant in the room is still the failure to address the 2000-2001 western energy crisis. Two weeks ago, CBS News broadcast tapes of conversations in which Enron employees bragged about stealing money from California during the energy crisis. They talked about shutting off power plants, they bragged about all of the money they stole from 'those poor grandmothers in California.' Some of the language was so profane it could not be broadcast. The language was shocking and the facts in the transcripts chilling. They are part of a litany of widespread market manipulation. Today, we have the smoking gun memos in which Enron admitted how it gamed the market. We have today the transcripts of employees of Reliant Energy describing how they gamed the market. We have today 3,000 pages produced by the State of California. We have today the Department of Justice's indictments and plea agreements with many energy traders and producers. We have today even the language that FERC found 'significant market manipulation.' What we do not have are refunds for the consumers who were gouged to the tune of $8.9 billion and $1.1 billion in the Pacific Northwest. The law requires that this money be refunded, but for 4 years consumers are still waiting.”