Federal prosecutors plan to indict a unit of Reliant Resources Inc. and four current and former workers in what would be the first criminal case against a company accused of manipulating power prices during California’s energy crisis, the Houston-based company said Monday.
Reliant said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California in San Francisco notified the company Friday of its intention to seek the indictments. The charges are based on allegations that the subsidiary, Reliant Energy Services, manipulated the prices for two days in June 2000 by curtailing Reliant’s electricity generation.
The subsidiary is responsible for buying fuel for and marketing power produced by its electric generation facilities. Reliant “intends to vigorously contest any charges,” the company said.
Patrick Robbins, head of the securities fraud unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco, declined comment Monday on possible indictments.
