This point was raised many times in the last rolling blackout gamed events in California nearly two decades ago. > S. David Freeman, who was appointed Chair of

This point was raised many times in the last rolling blackout gamed events in California nearly two decades ago. > S. David Freeman, who was appointed Chair of the California Power Authority in the midst of the crisis, made the following statements about Enron's involvement in testimony submitted before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce and Tourism of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on May 15, 2002: [1] > "There is one fundamental lesson we must learn from this experience: electricity is really different from everything else. It cannot be stored, it cannot be seen, and we cannot do without it, which makes opportunities to take advantage of a deregulated market endless. It is a public good that must be protected from private abuse. If Murphy's Law were written for a market approach to electricity, then the law would state 'any system that can be gamed, will be gamed, and at the worst possible time.' And a market approach for electricity is inherently gameable. Never again can we allow private interests to create artificial or even real shortages and to be in control. [1] > "Enron stood for secrecy and a lack of responsibility. In electric power, we must have openness and companies that are responsible for keeping the lights on. We need to go back to companies that own power plants with clear responsibilities for selling real power under long-term contracts. There is no place for companies like Enron that own the equivalent of an electronic telephone book and game the system to extract an unnecessary middleman’s profits. Companies with power plants can compete for contracts to provide the bulk of our power at reasonable prices that reflect costs. People say that Governor Davis has been vindicated by the Enron confession."[1] Hopefully stored battery energy on households can help prevent rolling blackouts impact, but until then any company running a crucial service needed for survival should be under heavy scrutiny, and switched to state/public run if they feel the need to game it. In the Enron triggered emergencies, they were 'overscheduling' on purpose and 'megawatt laundering' [2] > "There is a single connection between northern and southern California's power grids. I heard that Enron traders purposely overbooked that line, then caused others to need it. Next, by California's free-market rules, Enron was allowed to price-gouge at will." [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#Involvement_of_Enron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#Market_manipulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#...