Spokesmen deny exploiting the situation.
A confidential document obtained by The Times names power providers that have allegedly manipulated the electricity market. Like a number of privately owned generators, these three producers offered power at a range of high prices and, sometimes, in large amounts when the state was most desperate. We helped keep the lights on in California. And the rates low for their own customers. This, according to state documents, was accomplished by offering power at incrementally higher prices that would rise substantially with even modest increases in demand.