California names 60 energy firms in market manipulation report. (News).

SACREMENTO, CA -- California officials on March 3 continued their bid to get billions in energy refunds for alleged overcharges during the state's 2000-2001 energy crisis with yet another filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Officials said the latest report supports their demand for consumer refunds as well as a separate claim that, generators still owe the state nearly $9 billion to cover the cost of emergency energy purchases.

In December, a FERC judge issued a preliminary ruling that said the state was owed only about $1.8 billion in overcharges. That amount can be upheld, modified, or rejected by FERC commissioners when they make a final ruling.

The latest report consists of more than 1000 pages of material and evidence that the state says shows that energy traders and some municipalities manipulated the energy market, leaving customers "plundered, defrauded, and ripped off."

The evidence, according to California officials, will show that sellers withheld electricity, shared nonpublic information, routed power to other states to avoid price caps, and falsely gave the impression of congested transmission lines. "Essentially the whole market was co-opted against the ...