The Dallas Morning News has
just posted a story on their website for Wed. editions saying that Texas power company TXU may have manipulated power prices last year.
The first three paragraphs and ties to Bush are below.
First the overview from the article:
TXU may have manipulated market
Utility denies cutting capacity in Texas to influence prices
12:06 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 27, 2006
By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News
TXU Corp. may have manipulated wholesale electricity supplies and prices last year, according to an annual review of the Texas market.
An outside company hired by the state's Public Utility Commission found evidence that a power producer shut down some of its generating capacity on certain days in 2005 in order to squeeze supply and boost prices.
The report doesn't specifically name TXU, but it states that the company in question had about 13,000 megawatts of available capacity. The only company in Texas with that much juice is TXU.
Ok, price manipulation, energy, and Texas. There just has to be a Bush tie-in to this, right? So a quick google search later I find this in a story from The Dallas Morning News from August of 2004:
As a Ranger, Mr. Evans, 56, was the company's point man, raising at least $200,000 for the Bush-Cheney re-election effort. He is one of 10 utility company officials who have reached the upper echelon of Bush donors as either Pioneers ($100,000) or Rangers ($200,000). Erle Nye of TXU, a longtime Bush financial backer, is a Pioneer.
Ok, so Bush had ties to TXU in 2004, but how about last year, when the alleged price manipulation took place? Turns out Mr. nye, (I'll call him Erlie-Boy, like I am sure dubya does) is still in charge of the company. Specifically:
Erle Nye is Chairman Emeritus of TXU Corp. since May 2005, having served as Chairman of the Board from 2004 to 2005, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive from 1997 to 2004, President and Chief Executive from 1995 to 1997, and President from 1987 to 1995. He has served on the Board of Directors of TXU Corp. since 1987. Mr. Nye also serves on the boards of many professional, civic and charitable organizations. Mr. Nye has served on the Board of Directors since November 2002 and is a member of the Executive and Governance and Nominating Committees of the Company.
So it looks like we have one more Bush friend and Pioneer who may have broken the law at the expense of thousands of people. Could it be Enron 2? I guess we will have to wait to see.