B.C. vows to fight U.S. ruling on power sales
VICTORIA - British Columbia's energy minister says the legal fight isn't over after an American regulatory body found Powerex Corp., a wing of BC Hydro, manipulated energy prices during California's energy crisis.
Rich Coleman says the province will continue to defend its position that it sold power to the state over a decade ago at market prices and there was no price-gouging involved.
A judge with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that California could recover up to $1.6 billion from several power companies after energy prices spiked in 2000 and 2001.
Powerex is one of more than a dozen power companies named in the decision and was accused of manipulated the energy market, dramatically increasing the price of power.
California launched a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit alleging the companies fixed the high prices, but Coleman says there was no hanky-panky on the part of Powerex.
Opposition energy critic John Horgan, whose New Democrats were in government when the energy was sold to California, says there was no price fixing with the power sold to California.
