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July 30, 2003 -- The U.S. Senate has voted against a plan that would have made it illegal for energy and natural gas traders to manipulate their markets.
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington originally made the proposal, which would have required the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prohibit a list of trading tactics such as "Death Star" and "Fat Boy," Reuters News reported. The commission then would have been required to revoke wholesale trading privileges for the violators.
The Senate rejected the plan with a close vote of 50 to 48, but is still debating a larger energy bill that prohibits "round-trip" trades. That bill, called S. 14, or the Energy Policy Act of 2003, should come to a final Senate vote before the Aug. 6 recess, according to Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici.
FERC in March released a report that it found market manipulation by Enron and others contributed to California's power crisis of 2000 and 2001. The commission has approved about $3.3 billion in refunds to the state, which is only about a third of what the state had originally requested.
For more information from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, visit http://energy.senate.gov/.
For more information from FERC, visit http://www.ferc.gov.
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