Senator Accuses I-S-O Of Creating Fake Power Needs

A state senator says California power grid managers asked state energy traders to buy unnecessary power at above-market rates. The state later sold it at a loss. Santa Ana Senator Joe Dunn heads a committee investigating California´s energy market. He´s calling for the head of the Independent System Operator, Terry Winter, to resign. Dunn contends the forced power buying amounts to manipulating the state´s energy market. Dunn says a recorded phone call between I-S-O and Department of Water Resources energy traders last November shows the grid operators asking the state to schedule “fictitious load” to keep federal regulators satisfied that generators were operating.