Enron Is At It Again

One would have hoped that the old days of Ken Lay, meant an end to Enron antics. But this proves to hardly be the case. In Portland, Oregon, the City Of Portland was attempting a $2.65 billion buyout of Enron owned Portland General Electric. But Enron erected an artificial barrier of a $50 million deposit to insure that consumers in Portland would no be able to get cheaper electricity rates and any city negotiations would come to a grinding halt.

Mayor Tom Potter, the former Portland Police Chief, is a political progressive who cares about fair electricity rates for all of Portland's citizens. But Enron once before erected a hurdle to fair electricity rates. In a recent election, some voters attempted to construct a People's Utility District, however an Enron serving front political committee spend a huge sum of money on a misleading television advertising campaign to defeat the measure. After the election it was disclosed that Enron was actually negotiating with another mega-power company from Texas to sell PGE for even more money that the People's Utility District would have brought in. Spending millions on a deceptive advertising campaign was small change compared to even more money at stake with this possible major business transaction.

And as a firther obstruction to any possible deal from Portland to purchase PGE, a political front organization, "Ask The Voters First" that serves Enron's goals is now circulating a petition to refer the City Of Portland using public funds to finance the deal to the ballot, so that another large misleading television advertising campaign can be waged, while Enron seeks to shop PGE for even more money than the $2.65 billion deal would have brought in.

All of this proves that when corporations are far more powerful than governments, that corporations will be able to rule the day. Enron will sell PGE to someone probably very soon, but it will be to another mega-corporation that will keep rates very high. Former Enron CEO, Ken Lay was to receive $20.2 million a year in an $81 million 5 year deal. Another major CEO will receive a large salary when PGE is sold. This is where part of the high electricity rates go to pay, mega-salaries for mega-corporations.