ASHINGTON, May 30 — Federal energy regulators examining whether companies overcharged California for electricity during the state's power crisis rejected an attempt by California officials today to expand their claim for refunds by as much as $2.8 billion.
Officials at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are already reviewing California's demand that it be refunded $8.9 billion from energy companies that the state says overcharged it beginning in October 2000. Energy companies deny any illegal overcharging, and an administrative law judge at the commission has not ruled on the matter.
Two months ago, the California attorney general, Bill Lockyer, sought to expand the time frame to include suspected overcharging before October 2000. Mr. Lockyer asserted that many power-sale transactions before that date should be subject to refunds because power companies failed to file appropriate paperwork with the commission listing specific dates, prices and other data about their sales.
The commission rejected that argument today, calling it a "collateral attack" on past rulings. In response, Mr. Lockyer said he would ask the agency to reconsider its decision.
In its order, the commission did conclude that some major energy companies had failed to properly disclose power-sale transactions. It said the Williams Companies, Dynegy, Mirant and Reliant Energy had filed data that "did not comply with the commission's reporting requirements." The commission ordered power companies to file new reports with more complete information.
In a statement this afternoon, Mr. Lockyer said that the commission's decision "recognizes our argument that power companies failed to file detailed price reports as required by law and that these are serious violations."
"Unfortunately," he added, "FERC has refused to order refunds for California for what FERC itself calls serious violations."
Mr. Lockyer also announced today that he had filed lawsuits in state court asserting that eight more companies had charged illegal rates during the power crisis. The complaints, filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, name BP Energy, Idaho Power, Merrill Lynch Capital Services, Portland General Electric, Puget Sound Energy, TransAlta, TransCanada and Tucson Electric. Similar complaints were filed last month against Reliant, Mirant, Williams, Coral Power and Powerex.
Today, power companies applauded the commission's ruling.
"It's been very clear from the beginning which transactions are subject to refunds and which are not," said Gary Ackerman, the executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, a trade group, "and this will give markets reassurance in this politically charged atmosphere that the federal government is not going to just cave in" to political demands for refunds.
Mr. Ackerman described the lawsuits by Mr. Lockyer as "frivolous" and politically motivated, saying that the attorney general had failed to produce "anything to back up" the accusations he has made.
El Paso to Alter Gas Flows
WASHINGTON, May 30 (AP) — Federal regulators directed the El Paso Corporation today to change the way it divides pipeline space to ensure that more natural gas flows into California, where demand for the fuel is growing.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the company, one of the Southwest's largest transporters of natural gas, to renegotiate shipping contracts to remove preferences to shippers of gas into Arizona and New Mexico.