But weep not for the pitiful corporations. Wholesale costs on the open market peaked in mid-December at about 50 times their typical level before the crisis. When deregulation swept California, they found it profitable in the short term to sell their generating plants. But much of the astronomical debt that the utilities have racked up is owed either to themselves, because some operate in dual capacities as generators and sellers of electricity within the state, or to their own parent businesses. Finally, let's not forget the bailout.
Thieves fall in.
Meanwhile, wholesalers such as Enron, Dynegy, and Reliant Energy are making out like the bandits they are. Most of these outfits are headquartered in the South, many of them in Texas. Bush has steadfastly refused to consider capping wholesale energy costs. Instead, he wants to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and pull the plug on laws safeguarding the environment. It owns Centragas, a 357-mile distribution system for natural gas in northern Colombia.