Reliant Energy

RELIANT engineered CA scam 103  Westar exec email said $ to Delay PAC was price for "seat at table" of the task force

Pvt jet for brooks bros holy cow 2o00)

Joe Allbaugh dir F Energy Reg Comiss vs FEMA?(tx "iron triangle) wife lobby for reliant, entergy and txu); also Don evans tx, norton (1/3 sen camp energy co's),CLOSE TIES TO BARTON---SEE ALSO BELOwOn May 17, a few weeks before the meeting between Bush and Davis, Vice President Dick Cheney, who chairs Bush’s energy task force, was interviewed by PBS’s“Frontline” for a special series on California’s energy crisis. During the interview, Cheney flat-out denied that energy companies ripped off California.[WHAT DID HE KNOW?]“The problem you had in California was caused by a combination of things – an unwise regulatory scheme, because they didn’t really deregulate,” Cheney said.When asked whether it was possible that energy companies were behaving like a “cartel” and if some of the high power prices in California could be the result of manipulation, Cheney responded with a resounding “no.”The Bush administration’s critics have said it’s highly unlikely that the president, Cheney, and members of his energy task force were kept in the dark about the Williams and Reliant scams, especially since the findings of the investigation by FERC took place around the same time the policy was being drafted. According to evidence obtained by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA.), the energy task force “considered and abandoned plans to address California’s energy problems in its report.”Reliant has also been connected to Cheney’s energy task force, which met between January and March 2001 to work on Bush’s National Energy Policy.Reliant, along with Entergy and TXU, two other electricity corporations based in Texas, hired Diane Allbaugh as a lobbyist. Allbaugh is the wife of Joe Allbaugh, a trusted Bush cohort who had served on Cheney’s energy task force and a director of the Federal Energy Management Agency.Reliant, TXU, and Entergy each paid Diane Allbaugh $20,000 for consulting work during the last three months of 2000. It’s unclear whether she lobbied the energy task force on behalf of Reliant, TXU, and Entergy, which would have certainly been a conflict of interest, but her husband, Joe Allbaugh, “has participated in task force talks with a direct bearing on the energy companies’ interests generally, such as environmental rules for power plants and electricity deregulation – a specialty of his wife’s,” the Los Angeles Times reported.The energy bill signed by Bush in August was a boon to Reliant Energy. House Energy Committee Chairman JoeBarton has for years pushed for legislation to create more competitive electricity markets. Reliant, whose executives enjoy close a relationship with Barton, played a role in shaping the energy bill, and worked side by side with Barton for years in shaping a portion of the energy bill that deals with competitive power markets.Barton’s staff includes two former Reliant executives, and until recently, Reliant’s lobbying team included two former Barton aides. Reliant employees contributed more than $35,000 to Barton’s political causes between 2001 and 2004. Barton holds about $15,000 in Reliant stock, which has increased nearly tenfold since he bought the shares in 2002.Jason Leopold is the author of News Junkie, to be released in the spring of 2006 by Process/Feral House Books. Visit his Web site at www.jasonleopold.com for updates.===---

wiki <h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">California energy crisis[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: California energy crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_energy_crisis" title="California energy crisis" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">California energy crisis</a></div>In March 2004, a grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Reliant Energy Services, Inc. and four of its officers—Jackie Thomas, a former vice president of Reliant's Power Trading Division; Reggie Howard, a former director of Reliant's West Power Trading Division; Lisa Flowers, a term trader for Reliant's West Power Trading Division; and Kevin Frankeny, Reliant's manager of western operations—for their alleged role in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis" title="California electricity crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">California electricity crisis</a>. All of the defendants are residents of Texas.The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and commodities manipulation and wire fraud, as well as manipulation and attempted manipulation of the price of a commodity in interstate commerce.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-nyt-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a> The indictments were filed on April 8, 2004.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-ens-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a> On August 15, 2005, Reliant announced that it had reached a $445 million settlement with the states of California, Oregon and Washington, resolving civil litigation claims against the company related to the sale of electricity in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis" title="California electricity crisis" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">California electricity crisis</a> of 2000 and 2001. In March 2007, Reliant agreed to pay a $22.2 million penalty in addition to a $13.8 million credit provided in a previous settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Environmental record[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Environmental record" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Researchers at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst" title="University of Massachusetts Amherst" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> have identified Reliant Energy as the 36th-largest corporate producer of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution" title="Air pollution" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">air pollution</a> in the United States, with roughly 34 million pounds of toxic chemicals released into the air every year.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[9]</a> Major pollutants indicated by the study include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid" title="Sulfuric acid" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">sulfuric</a> and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrochloric_acid" title="Hydrochloric acid" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">hydrochloric acid</a> as well as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese" title="Manganese" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">manganese</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium" title="Chromium" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">chromium</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel" title="Nickel" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">nickel</a> compounds.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[10]</a>In December 2007, the US state of New Jersey sued Reliant Energy, claiming that emissions from a Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant hurt the state's air quality. New Jersey claims emissions of smog and acid rain components sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from Reliant's Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, drift into its territory. The lawsuit also claims that Reliant violated the federal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)" title="Clean Air Act (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Clean Air Act</a> by modifying and operating the plant without required pollution control equipment and construction permits.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-enn-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[11]</a> In February 2012, in respond to an EPA ruling, GenOn Energy announced they would be shutting down the Portland Generating Station in 2015.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[12]</a>Reliant Energy claims to have made efforts toward more environmentally safe practices through the use of renewable resources such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy" title="Solar energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">solar energy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power" title="Wind power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">wind power</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill_gas" title="Landfill gas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">landfill gas</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coal_refuse&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Coal refuse (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none;">coal refuse</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-reliantprpage-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[13]</a>

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California energy crisis trial looms

By Jason Leopold

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/california_energy_crisis_trial_looms/

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule soon after press time on a key piece of evidence, kick-starting the long awaited criminal trial involving Houston-based Reliant Energy’s alleged scheme to boost profits by shutting down power plants in California during the height of the state’s energy crisis in 2000.

The criminal trial – the first one related to the state’s energy crisis – was scheduled to begin in November 2005. It was postponed when prosecutors asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn US District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that market rules of the California Independent System Operator could not be used as evidence to establish what constitute normal wholesale power prices.

Prosecutors want to submit as evidence price benchmarks calculated by the ISO. Federal regulators have used these to distribute billions of dollars of refunds to buyers from power sellers accused of price gouging. Walker sided with defense attorneys who objected to that.

Reliant and four of its traders are accused of wire fraud, commodities market manipulation, and conspiracy. Reliant faces millions of dollars in fines, and the traders each face five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Despite the last minute delay, the case appears to be a slam dunk for the prosecution based on evidence already submitted, said a Justice Department spokesman.

One piece of evidence the government is using against Reliant is a transcript of a conversation between one of the company’s traders and a power plant operator, in which the two men discuss shutting down some of Reliant’s power plants in California between June 20 and 22, 2000, to create a shortage so the price of power would skyrocket.

The transcript was released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in January 2003. The scheme worked: it caused power prices to reach “unjust and unreasonable” levels in California, illegal under the Federal Energy Policy Act.

“[We] started out Monday losing $3 million ... So, then we decided as a group that we were going to make it back up, so we turned like about almost every power plant off. It worked. Prices went back up. Made back about $4 million, actually more than that, $5 million,” the Reliant trader says in a tape-recorded conversation on June 23, 2000.

California’s energy market is still in limbo, with warnings of future blackouts and supply shortages in future summer months, and no mechanism in place to deal with the situation.

As natural gas prices continue to skyrocket nationwide, the power situation in California is dire. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected due in part to voter frustration with the way governor Gray Davis handled the energy crisis, has not fixed the situation.

California’s electricity crisis wreaked havoc on consumers in the state between 2000 and 2001, resulted in rolling blackouts, and forced the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, into bankruptcy. California was the first state in the nation to deregulate its power market nearly 10 years ago. The results have since proved disastrous. The experiment has cost the state more than $70 billion, according to some estimates.

For three years, California officials pleaded with federal regulators, President Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney to provide the state with some relief from soaring wholesale power prices and investigate energy companies for allegedly manipulating the market. Bush and Cheney responded personally to Gray Davis’s pleas for help in May 2001 by saying the crisis was the result of California’s incomplete deregulation.

It wasn’t until Enron collapsed in October 2001 and evidence of the company’s manipulative trading tactics emerged that FERC began to take a look at the company’s role in California’s electricity crisis. Since then, memos written by former Enron traders were uncovered, with colorful names like “Fat Boy” and “Death Star,” that contained the blueprint for ripping off California.

Enron’s top trader on the West Coast, Timothy Belden, the mastermind behind the scheme, pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators.

California had demanded $8.9 billion from energy companies for overcharging the state for electricity during the crisis. An administrative law judge for the agency released a preliminary decision in December that says California is due no more than $1.2 billion in refunds, since the state owes the companies $1.8 billion in unpaid bills.

Shutting down power plants in California to boost wholesale prices is not a new issue. In 2002, CBS News reported that Williams Companies engaged in identical behavior around the same time as Reliant. The evidence, also a transcript of a recorded conversation between a Williams trader and a power plant operator in California, showed the two conspiring to shut down a power plant for two weeks to boost electricity prices and Williams’s profits. FERC kept the evidence under wraps for a year and cut a secret deal with Williams to refund California $8 million  without admitting guilt.

FERC released the transcripts in late November 2002 after the Wall Street Journal sued the commission to obtain a full copy of its report. Had the evidence been released before Enron collapsed, it might have helped California’s case. But it would have hurt Bush’s National Energy Policy, made public the month Williams and FERC hatched a settlement. Bush visited California and told Davis he could not do anything to help the state.

Memos written by former Enron traders contained the blueprint for ripping off California.

On May 17, a few weeks before the meeting between Bush and Davis, Vice President Dick Cheney, who chairs Bush’s energy task force, was interviewed by PBS’s “Frontline” for a special series on California’s energy crisis. During the interview, Cheney flat-out denied that energy companies ripped off California.

“The problem you had in California was caused by a combination of things – an unwise regulatory scheme, because they didn’t really deregulate,” Cheney said.

When asked whether it was possible that energy companies were behaving like a “cartel” and if some of the high power prices in California could be the result of manipulation, Cheney responded with a resounding “no.”

The Bush administration’s critics have said it’s highly unlikely that the president, Cheney, and members of his energy task force were kept in the dark about the Williams and Reliant scams, especially since the findings of the investigation by FERC took place around the same time the policy was being drafted. According to evidence obtained by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA.), the energy task force “considered and abandoned plans to address California’s energy problems in its report.”

Reliant has also been connected to Cheney’s energy task force, which met between January and March 2001 to work on Bush’s National Energy Policy.

Reliant, along with Entergy and TXU, two other electricity corporations based in Texas, hired Diane Allbaugh as a lobbyist. Allbaugh is the wife of Joe Allbaugh, a trusted Bush cohort who had served on Cheney’s energy task force and a director of the Federal Energy Management Agency.

Reliant, TXU, and Entergy each paid Diane Allbaugh $20,000 for consulting work during the last three months of 2000. It’s unclear whether she lobbied the energy task force on behalf of Reliant, TXU, and Entergy, which would have certainly been a conflict of interest, but her husband, Joe Allbaugh, “has participated in task force talks with a direct bearing on the energy companies’ interests generally, such as environmental rules for power plants and electricity deregulation – a specialty of his wife’s,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

The energy bill signed by Bush in August was a boon to Reliant Energy. House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton has for years pushed for legislation to create more competitive electricity markets. Reliant, whose executives enjoy close a relationship with Barton, played a role in shaping the energy bill, and worked side by side with Barton for years in shaping a portion of the energy bill that deals with competitive power markets.

Barton’s staff includes two former Reliant executives, and until recently, Reliant’s lobbying team included two former Barton aides. Reliant employees contributed more than $35,000 to Barton’s political causes between 2001 and 2004. Barton holds about $15,000 in Reliant stock, which has increased nearly tenfold since he bought the shares in 2002.

Jason Leopold is the author of News Junkie, to be released in the spring of 2006 by Process/Feral House Books. Visit his Web site at www.jasonleopold.com for updates.

EIJ

Jason Leopold | Cheney Suppressed Evidence in California Energy Crisis

Cheney Suppressed Evidence in California Energy Crisis

By Jason Leopold   t r u t h o u t | Investigative Report

Thursday 19 July 2007

In-depth investigation shows how Vice President Dick Cheney pressured federal energy regulators to conceal evidence of widespread market manipulation by energy companies during the California electricity crisis in 2001.

In March 2001, while California's two largest utilities were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and the state's electricity crisis was spiraling out of control, Vice President Dick Cheney summoned Curt Hebert, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to his office next to the White House for a hastily arranged meeting.

Cheney had just been informed by his longtime friend Thomas Cruikshank, the man who handpicked the vice president to succeed him at Halliburton in the mid-1990s, that federal energy regulators were close to completing an investigation into allegations that Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams Companies and AES Corporation of Arlington, Virginia had created an artificial power shortage in California in April and May of 2000 by shutting down a power plant for more than two weeks.

Cruikshank was a member of Williams's board of directors, and perhaps more importantly, had been one of many energy industry insiders advising Cheney's energy task force on a wide-range of policy issues, including deregulation of the nation's electricity sector, that would benefit Williams financially.

Cruikshank informed the vice president he had learned about the preliminary findings of FERC's investigation during a Williams board meeting earlier in March 2001. FERC, Cruikshank told Cheney, was in possession of incriminating audio tapes in which a Williams official and an AES power plant operator discussed keeping a Southern California power plant offline so Williams could continue to receive the $750 per megawatt hour premium for emergency power California's grid operator was forced to procure to keep the lights on in Southern California.

AES was the operator of two power plants in Los Alamitos and Williams marketed the electricity. The power plants were designated by the California Independent System Operator (ISO), the agency that manages the state's power grid, as crucial in order to ensure a reliable flow of electricity in the Southern part of the state. To stave off the potential for blackouts, the ISO was given the authority to pay top dollar for power if the power plants operated by AES, as well as power plants operated by other companies, were not in operation.

California's electricity crisis wreaked havoc on consumers in the state between 2000 and 2001. The crisis resulted in widespread rolling blackouts and forced the state's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, into bankruptcy. California was the first state in the nation to deregulate its power market in an effort to provide consumers with cheaper electricity and the opportunity to choose their own power provider. The results have since proved disastrous. The experiment has cost the state more than $30 billion.

According to a copy of the March 2001 Williams transcript, Rhonda Morgan, a Williams official, told an AES power plant operator "it wouldn't hurt Williams's feelings" if the power plant that was down for repairs was kept offline for an extended period of time so the company could continue to be paid the "premium" for its emergency energy supplies from the ISO. In a separate conversation with Eric Pendergraft, a senior AES official, Morgan said, "I don't wanna do something underhanded, but if there's work you can continue to do ..."

Pendergraft responded to Morgan, saying, "I understand. You don't have to talk anymore."

The collusion between Williams and AES allowed Williams to earn an extra $10 million over a period of 15 days and set in motion a series of events that resulted in the California power crisis between 2000 and 2001, a crisis that was based almost entirely on manipulative practices by energy companies.

This story is based on a two-month investigation into Cheney's energy task force; how the vice president pressured cabinet officials to conceal clear-cut evidence of market manipulation during California's energy crisis, and how that subsequently led Cheney to exert executive privilege when lawmakers called on him to turn over documents related to his meetings with energy industry officials who helped draft the National Energy Policy and also gamed California's power market. Truthout spoke with more than a dozen former officials from the Energy Department and FERC as well as current and former energy industry executives all of whom were involved in personal discussions with Cheney relating to the National Energy Policy.

In addition to Hebert, the FERC chairman, the other senior cabinet officials who attended the March 2001 meeting in Cheney's office included Andrew Lundquist, the former executive director of Cheney's energy task force, now an energy industry lobbyist, White House political adviser Karl Rove, President Bush's chief of staff Andrew Card, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, according to former Energy Department and FERC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to disclose details of their secret meetings with Cheney or information about the energy task force meetings.

Joe Allbaugh, another adviser to the vice president’s energy task force, had heard of a similar situation involving an energy company his wife was involved with. Allbaugh told Cheney that Reliant Energy also shut down a power plant in California in June 2000. That caused wholesale power prices in California to reach levels that exceeded "just and reasonable" rates, a violation of the Federal Power Act. FERC apparently had audio tapes of Reliant employees discussing the scheme.

"[We] started out Monday losing $3 million ... So, then we decided as a group that we were going to make it back up, so we turned like about almost every power plant off. It worked. Prices went back up. Made back about $4 million, actually more than that, $5 million," the Reliant trader says in a tape-recorded conversation on June 23, 2000.

Allbaugh's wife, Dianne Allbaugh, was a lobbyist for Reliant, TXU and Entergy, who was paid at least $20,000 a month by those corporations, and told her husband what she had learned from executives at Reliant. Allbaugh then informed Cheney.

Cruikshank and Allbaugh did not return dozens of calls or respond to emails seeking comment. Devona Greenstone, a spokeswoman for Hebert, was sent a detailed list of questions for Hebert to answer and was given more than one week to respond to the queries. But neither Greenstone nor the former FERC chairman replied despite numerous follow-up phone calls and emails sent to Hebert and Greenstone. A spokesperson for Cheney also failed to return 16 messages left for comment over the past month.

If You Were "King" or "Il Duce"?

Joseph Kelliher, a former Energy Department official, had been soliciting advice from Williams, Reliant, El Paso, Enron and other energy companies on natural gas issues on behalf of Cheney, another area those companies were accused of gaming, particularly in California.

In a March 10, 2001 email, just a week or so after Cheney was briefed by Cruikshank about the Williams scheme, Kelliher emailed energy lobbyist Dana Contratto, asking Contratto if he was "King or "Il Duce, what would you include in a national energy policy, especially with respect to natural gas issues?", according to energy task force documents.

Contratto responded with a three-page list of ideas, many of which were included in the final version of the energy policy.

On another occasion, Kelliher sought out Stephen Craig Sayle, an Enron Corp. lobbyist, to make similar recommendations. Sayle, former counsel for the House Commerce Committee, sent Kelliher Enron's "dream list." The list included a recommendation that the administration commit to market-based emissions trading, which was also used in administration's National Energy Policy.

Sayle wrote Kelliher about the energy policy, saying, "a multi-pollutant regulatory strategy should be estimated for the power generation sector including: Gradually phased in [mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions] reductions; reform/replacement of NSR; use of market-based/emission trading programs; inclusion of both existing and new plants and equal treatment for both. The last bullet is the critical one to ensure that: a) we encourage the new generation that is required; b) we ensure that the new technologies developed through DOE programs can come into the market.

"Obviously, this is a dream list," Sayle said in the March 23, 2001 email he sent to Kelliher. "Not all will be done. But perhaps some of these ideas could be floated and adopted."

Sayle also provided Kelliher with a PowerPoint presentation on behalf of his other energy clients in the so-called Clean Power Group, a consortium made up of a handful of the country's biggest energy companies, including NiSource Inc., Calpine Corp., Trigen Energy Corp. and El Paso Corp, whose mission, according to the group's web site, is to "streamline requirements under the Clean Air Act for electric generating facilities while at the same time making major reductions in air emissions."

The PowerPoint presentation, A Comprehensive Multi-Pollutant Emission Control Strategy for Power Generation, summarized the Clean Power Group's support of a "cap and trade" method in addressing emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide from power plants, but included a proposal for a voluntary cap on carbon dioxide. The Clean Power Group stood to benefit from the initiative it urged Kelliher to get the White House to adopt in that the companies could release more emissions under its proposed plan than under the more restrictive rules the Clinton administration had put in place.

After receiving Sayle's email and supporting material, Kelliher recommended that President Bush "direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose multi-pollutant legislation that would establish a flexible, market-based program to significantly reduce and cap emissions; provide regulatory certainty to allow utilities to make modifications to their plants without fear of new litigation; provide market based incentives, such as emissions-trading credits to help achieve the required reductions," all of which the president approved and was eventually incorporated into the National Energy Policy.

In fact, President Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative consists of many of the bullet points laid out months earlier in Sayle's email to Kelliher.

In addition to Kelliher's correspondence with Sayle, he also met with oil and gas industry lobbyists who helped draft language that Kelliher passed on directly to the White House. Two months later, the president issued executive orders nearly identical to those Kelliher received from the lobbyists months earlier, according to energy task force documents.

Kelliher now chairs FERC, the agency that is entrusted with keeping a close eye on wholesale energy markets, ensuring that companies like Williams and Reliant refrain from engaging in the type of manipulative practices they were caught doing during the spring and summer of 2000 in California.

Cheney Orders FERC to Seal Evidence

But the documentary evidence of widespread market manipulation that FERC obtained in March 2001, while Kelliher was soliciting energy industry officials to assist in writing the National Energy Policy, and when Cruikshank and Allbaugh disclosed to the vice president the manipulative tactics Williams and Reliant had engaged in, was sealed by FERC on direct orders by Cheney because it would have been a political nightmare for the Bush administration and would have derailed a recommendation of one of the cornerstones of the vice president's National Energy Policy: deregulation, and perhaps scuttle the policy altogether if evidence about the energy companies behavior in California was made public, according to half-a-dozen former FERC officials and former Energy Department officials.

So in May 2001, just days before Cheney unveiled his long-awaited National Energy Policy, FERC entered into confidential settlements with Williams in which the company forfeited $8 million it was owed by California's grid operator for power Williams sold into the marketplace at inflated prices. Williams did not admit any guilt for the power plant shutdown and, on orders from Cheney, FERC agreed to keep details of the settlement sealed. FERC later entered into a similar settlement with Reliant. The company agreed to forfeit $13.8 million it was owed by California's grid operator, did not admit to any wrongdoing, and FERC kept the details of the settlement confidential.

Moreover, FERC kept California officials in the dark about the nature of the state's claims that its wholesale electricity market was being manipulated. Hebert is now the vice president of external affairs for Entergy in New Orleans.

For former Governor Gray Davis, the illegal behavior by energy companies like Williams that federal energy regulators discovered, then covered up, during a time when the former governor had said publicly he believed such behavior had taken place, is beyond disturbing.

Instead of protecting the interests of consumers, FERC's primary job, Hebert toed the White House line and together with Cheney, Hebert had come out publicly to say that Davis should immediately order the California Public Utilities Commission to relax environmental restrictions on the permitting process related to power plant construction and raise electricity rates to keep utilities Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison from becoming insolvent. The insolvency issue was due to the fact that the utilities were paying higher prices for power than it was legally allowed to charge its customers under the state's deregulation law.

In an interview, Davis, now an attorney with Loeb & Loeb in Century City, California, said he never saw the evidence FERC had obtained implicating Williams in shutting down power plants in the state.

"If I had hard evidence that this was happening, I would have stood out in front of the Congress until they did something," Davis said. "I thought there was something rotten going on but I never believed that these energy companies would outright steal from us."

"This was an absolute outrage and was based on pure greed," Davis added. "I clearly didn't know this was happening with Williams. I think FERC perpetrated a fraud on the American public and California consumers by sealing the findings of this investigation while I was out there saying that this type of manipulation was happening. I think that if the results of this investigation were made public in March 2001, when FERC knew this was taking place, it would have stopped energy deregulation in America in its tracks. This admission in effect by Williams would have been the death knell for energy deregulation."

Davis had a tumultuous relationship with the federal agency that appeared to be based on partisan politics. Just three months before Cruikshank and Allbaugh provided Cheney with details that the energy companies they were affiliated with had gouged California consumers and violated the state's market rules, the vice president, and FERC's chairman, railed against Davis, blaming the energy crisis on him and said the governor's claims that energy companies were acting like a "cartel" were baseless.

"The basic problem in California was caused by Californians," Cheney said, adding that he would resist calls by lawmakers to allow price caps to be placed on wholesale energy prices in the Western United States.

Even after Hebert had secured evidence showing that Williams manipulated the power market, he continued to pin the blame for skyrocketing power prices squarely on the shoulders of Davis and the state's Democratic leaders.

"I went to FERC and laid out our problems and was promised they would look into it. Nothing happened," Davis said. "My experience with FERC during the energy crisis was wholly unsatisfactory. I did not ever feel that they believed their job was to act in the public interest. I always believed they were acting in the interests of the energy companies. They operated as if they were a wholly owned subsidiary of the energy companies."

Hebert, however, fell out favor with the Bush administration when he privately opposed a recommendation by Ken Lay, made to Cheney, to open up the country's transmission lines to corporations such as Enron. Lay requested Cheney and Bush replace Hebert, which they did in the summer of 2001.

PG&E Files for Bankruptcy; Rove Orchestrates Political Spin Campaign

In a televised speech to California residents on April 5, 2001, Davis resisted Cheney's and Hebert's calls to increase electricity rates for average consumers to keep the state's public utilities afloat, opting instead to increase electricity rates of the state's largest power customers such as manufacturing plants. The next morning PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Davis publicly railed against the Bush administration's refusal to launch an investigation into wholesale energy companies trading practices, and its position on price caps. Davis's rhetoric started to impact the Bush administration's approval ratings. Rove, working closely with Cheney, entered into discussions on how the White House would respond to criticism by Davis that the Bush administration was turning its back on California.

"Karl [Rove] started to talk about using the resources of former Republican National Committee staffers to put together an attack campaign against Davis, and pin the power problems on the governor and his administration," according to one former high-level Energy Department official who was privy to the conversation between Rove and Cheney.

Rove enlisted the help of former RNC staffers Ed Gillespie, then a lobbyist who was working for Enron and other energy companies, and Scott Reed, who used to work for the RNC and was the former manager of Robert Dole's presidential campaign, to start devising a strategy to attack Davis and lead people to believe that the energy crisis was entirely his fault. Gillespie was recently tapped by President Bush to replace Dan Bartlett as White House counselor.

Reed and Gillespie, who was doing double duty advising Cheney's energy task force on behalf of Enron, advised Rove and the vice president that the PG&E bankruptcy left Davis vulnerable and the best course of action for the White House was to take advantage of Davis's vulnerability by stating that Davis single-handedly, in refusing to raise electricity rates, caused one of the largest bankruptcies in American history. Gillespie went a step further, according to Energy Department officials familiar with his conversations with Rove and Cheney, by suggesting that the White House start courting Republican gubernatorial candidates to replace Davis in the 2002 election.

At the White House in April 2001, Rove met with Brad Freeman, President Bush's California finance chairman during the 2000 presidential campaign, and Gerald Parsky, an investment banker, who was Bush's top adviser in California. The discussion centered on Parsky and Freeman's interest in courting actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss his bid for governor in 2002.

"That would be nice," Rove said about the possibility of Schwarzenegger, a Republican, to replace Davis as governor, according to people who were briefed about the meeting. "That would be really, really nice."

Davis said he could see now see how the energy crisis created a political opportunity for the White House in California.

"In retrospect I could see how that happened," Davis said. "There's no question that the energy companies saw me as an adversary when I wouldn't buckle under their demands. I was vulnerable and the [energy companies and the White House] took advantage of it. This crisis took place in the early days of the Bush administration. I figured these guys are too busy picking out furniture for their offices. I didn't think they [the Bush administration] were spending their days in office involved in some full-scale conspiracy. But it turns out they were."

Cheney Takes Aim at Davis

Meanwhile, Cheney continued to meet with energy company officials who were instrumental in drafting key aspects of the National Energy Policy. At the same time, the usually reclusive vice president was granting interviews to numerous reporters discussing his take on the California energy crisis which continued to spiral out of control.

In May 2001, the PBS news program "Frontline" interviewed Cheney who was asked by a correspondent whether energy companies were acting like a cartel and using manipulative tactics to cause electricity prices to spike in California.

"No," Cheney said during the "Frontline" interview, even though he was personally briefed about energy companies manipulating the state. "The problem you had in California was caused by a combination of things - an unwise regulatory scheme, because they didn't really deregulate. Now they’re trapped from unwise regulatory schemes, plus, not having addressed the supply side of the issue. They've obviously created major problems for themselves and bankrupted PG&E in the process."

The same month, May 2001, Davis met with Bush at a Century City hotel, not far from the offices he now works at as an attorney. He pleaded with Bush one last time to put price controls in place. Bush refused.

Behind the scenes, while Bush and Davis discussed the state of the energy crisis, Gillespie was emailing Enron officials on the status of Cheney's energy policy. He alerted Enron executives to the exact language that would appear on one of the hot-button issues revolving around price caps in California and the west and allowing energy companies free access to the nation's transmission lines.

"I believe this is the exact language that will appear under the 'energy supply' section of the report," Gillespie wrote. "Recommends that the President encourage the FERC to use its existing statutory authority to promote competition and encourage investment in transmission facilities," which Enron was lobbying heavily for. "Please keep this under wraps. We do not want to circulate this beyond the folks listed on this email. Please let me know any concerns. As we have known for several weeks, the report is not as explicit as we would want, but the White House, vice president, and [Department of Energy] have repeatedly but verbally assured us that they are making clear to FERC exactly what this means."

Another email Gillespie forwarded Enron officials, dated May 17, 2001, came from Cheney's spokeswoman, Juleanna Glover, who told Gillespie "you're really relied upon around here ... hear your name all the time in connection w. tough issues, but you know that already."

On May 21, 2001, five days after unveiling his energy policy, Cheney told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" that Davis was to blame for the energy issues in the state.

"They knew over a year ago they had a problem, and Gray Davis refused to address that problem," Cheney said. "[They] kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off, with the notion that somehow price caps could be maintained. Now, today, where are they in California?"

GOP Front Group Attacks Gray Davis, Shields Bush, Cheney

At the same time, Reed informed Rove and Cheney that his nonprofit, the American Taxpayers Alliance, a Republican front organization, would begin to air a series of scathing radio commercials taking aim at Davis's failure to tame the energy crisis in June 2001. The ads, Reed said, were aimed to shift attention away from Republicans in Washington and "back to Sacramento where it belongs." Reed added that the ads would leave Davis "bleeding like a stuck pig."

The ads, which began to air in June 2001, did in fact make an impact:

"He's pointing fingers and blaming others. Gray Davis says he's not responsible for California's energy problems; after all, the Public Utilities Commission blocked long-term cost-saving contracts for electricity. But who runs the PUC? The people Gray Davis appointed - Loretta Lynch and other Davis appointees who left us powerless. That's why newspapers say he just ignored all the warning signals and turned a problem into a crisis. Grayouts on Gray Davis."

The ads and the negative press Davis received helped set in motion a chain of events that would lead to a historic recall campaign and put Schwarzenegger in office.

What the public didn't know, however, is that Cheney and Rove recommended that Reed approach Reliant Energy, the firm that one of Cheney's energy task force advisers, Joseph Allbaugh, was affiliated with via his wife's lobbying for the company, to fund the radio spots, according to former Reliant executives involved in the matter. Reliant donated nearly $2 million of Reed's $3.2 annual budget, yet the company only reported spending a total of $340,000 on government lobbying in apparent violation of the law, according to the company's public records.

Gillespie also launched a public relations campaign against Davis. He took ads out in print publications attacking Davis. The ads were paid for by Gillespie's 21st Century Energy Project, which he formed in close coordination with Karl Rove less than a month after the National Energy Policy was released in May 2001, according to former Enron executives who worked closely with Gillespie. Enron funneled at least $75,000 to Gillespie to pay for the ads through Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, according to documents obtained by Truthout.

Russ Schriefer, who worked with Gillespie on Bush’s presidential campaign and formed Mosaic Media with Quinn Gillespie in February 2001 to produce advocacy ads for Republicans, wrote the Davis ads. The ads aired on ABC, Fox and CNN.

Norquist, a longtime friend of Cheney's, was personally tapped by Rove to assist Gillespie with the ad campaign. Norquist may be best known for his close relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. One of Abramoff's clients, Raul Garza, chief of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, donated $25,000 to Norquist's organization in order to obtain an invitation to a reception with President Bush on May 9, 2001. Norquist and Abramoff were also in attendance and a photograph of Garza standing alongside Bush with Abramoff in the background was kept from public view when the Abramoff scandal blew up. Bush had denied publicly that he ever met Abramoff.

At the time, Gillespie said the ads were necessary "because Davis put all his time and energy into trying to shift responsibility and President Bush spent all his time and energy trying to accept responsibility. The president is trying to change the tone, but others of us have to point out that the crisis developed on the watch of Governor Davis and President Clinton."

Executive Privilege

Immediately following reports that Cheney relied upon the recommendations of 400 energy industry executives to draft the National Energy Policy, lawmakers began to demand that the vice president turn over documents regarding his task force meetings to Congress. The vice president vehemently refused.

With White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales weighing in on the issue, the administration exerted "executive privilege" as the reason it refused to turn over task force documents to Democratic lawmakers. The issue reached the Supreme Court that ruled in Cheney's favor. As Attorney General, Gonzales still refuses to publicly release audiotapes from 2000 and 2001 in which other energy companies were also found to have discussed ways in which to manipulate the California energy market. Some of the heads of those companies implicated in the crisis also provided Cheney with input on the National Energy Policy.

In 2004, Reliant became the first energy company that was indicted for its role in manufacturing the California energy crisis. A year later, the company refunded California $453 million.

Last month, two power companies agreed to pay California $84 million to settle charges stemming from the 2000-2001 California energy crisis.

PacifiCorp, a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., paid the state $27.9 million to resolve claims that it manipulated the California and Pacific Northwest electricity markets in 2000 and 2001. MidAmerican Energy Holdings is a subsidiary of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In a second case, a subsidiary of Houston-based El Paso Corp. paid California $56 million.

Joseph Kelliher, the chairman of FERC, and the man who, on behalf of Cheney in March 2001, lobbied these very companies to help write the National Energy Policy, helped negotiate the settlements.

Davis feels vindicated in light of the refunds paid to California consumers, which, to date, have totaled about $6 billion. He said that he believes he would likely never have faced a recall if FERC publicly released details of its investigation into Williams in March 2001. But despite what he knows now Davis doesn't hold a grudge against the individuals responsible for using the energy crisis to have him recalled.

"No one ever said life is fair," Davis said.=<h1 id="page-title" class="title" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2em; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Williams defends energy profits</h1><div class="submitted" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(105, 105, 105); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="field field-type-date field-field-date" style="margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; background-color: transparent;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><div class="field-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;">7/15/2001</div></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><div class="field-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;">Melissa DavisOklahoma company blamed for California problemsTHE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN
</div></div></div></div><div id="content-only-wrapper-block" style="margin: 10px auto 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 490px; clear: left; line-height: 18px;">Anthony Spano doesn't blame out-of-state energy companies, like Tulsa-based Williams Cos. Inc., for reaping huge profits on the electricity they sell in his home state of California.Spano is a businessman himself. For three generations, his family has owned and operated the Red & White Market, a neighborhood grocery store two blocks from the beach in Oceanside, Calif. Spano has learned, from his father and his grandfather before him, how to support a family with small markups on products like toothpaste, cereal and soda pop.He appreciates fully the importance of profits."It's human nature to want to blame out-of-state companies for what's happened here," Spano said. "People want that target. But the energy producers saw deregulation for what it was - a wide open market for electricity. And they have done what good businesses do best. They have created profits."Spano is more understanding than many Californians. Williams' critics - ranging from ordinary consumers to top state officials - have accused the company of unfair business practices at best, and illegal ones at worst. Williams is among several out-of-state companies facing consumer and taxpayer lawsuits, as well as state and federal investigations, alleging that the companies have manipulated California's faulty electricity market to reap outlandish profits.Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it will likely require Williams and other energy companies to refund up to $ 1 billion in energy profits to California - which is still only a fraction of what California claims it's owed.Meanwhile, Williams fiercely maintains its innocence. Likewise, industry experts tend to agree that Williams is guilty of little more than "shrewd business practices." Even some large electricity consumers like <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=Conoco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Conoco</a> - whose Montana plant has been rocked by the Western <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=%22energy+crisis%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">energy crisis</a> - don't immediately fault Williams."We celebrate brilliance," said Susie King, governmental manager for<a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=Conoco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157);">Conoco</a> in Oklahoma City. "And man, these guys were brilliant."For Williams, which entered the California energy market three years ago, that "brilliance" has paid off handsomely. Last year, Williams earned more than $ 1 billion from its energy trading operations alone - an 870 percent increase over the previous year's numbers. The company's phenomenal growth is reflected in the compensation of its chief executive, Keith Bailey, whose 2000 salary package of $ 7.05 million was 346 percent higher than his compensation from just one year earlier.That pay hike has earned Bailey a "wanted poster" on the Web site for the Utility Consumers' Action Network, one of several California consumer groups that see little to admire in companies like Williams."The public's perception of these energy marketers and traders is one of the modern robber barons," said Doug Heller, a consumer advocate at the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights."These are the bandits who have soaked California, who have stolen billions of dollars from California without improving our energy service and, obviously, without providing affordable electricity."If there was real competition here, Darwin would have de-selected Williams.... The Williams Company has gouged California."Like many, Heller believes Williams owes California an explanation - and a lot of money - for what it's allegedly done to the state. He contributes to a heated debate, raging across the country, about what went wrong in California and who, if anyone, should be made to pay.The allegationsIronically, Williams doesn't even own the power plants that have thrown the company into California's energy controversy.Virginia-based AES Corp. bought the plants from a California utility when the state deregulated its electricity industry in the late 1990s. By 1998, AES had signed a contract that would result in more than $ 1 billion worth of power profits - for Williams.Under the 20-year agreement, Williams essentially pays AES to convert natural gas into electricity, which Williams then markets. AES has lost money on this arrangement. Meanwhile, Williams stated in its most recent earnings report that revenue from energy marketing and trading soared by 322 percent during the first quarter of 2001, resulting in an additional $ 503 million in sales.The company attributed this sharp incline to higher profit margins from gas and electricity services, which have benefited from "increased price volatility" in the marketplace.Critics have attributed the surge to possible foul play.They are accusing Williams of withholding power during critical shortages, driving prices to unprecedented levels. As one example, they point to December, when California first began experiencing Stage Three emergencies, the last stage before rolling blackouts begin. That period and others have been studied intensely by the Orange County Register, a major newspaper in southern California, which is a region that depends on Williams for one-third of its electricity.On Dec. 4 - the day of California's first Stage Three emergency and four other high-shortage days that month, AES generators throttled back production by at least one-quarter in early afternoon, the newspaper reported. The generators only kicked production back up, the newspaper found, after prices started to escalate.Bailey said his company did nothing wrong. He explained that, because some AES plants are older and less efficient than others, they are the first to be knocked off-line in the normal course of events."The fact is," Bailey said, "we went out of our way to produce all of the power the state indicated it needed - and we're working very hard to continue to do that."This spring, Williams reportedly ordered AES to shut down two generating units completely. Both units are "must-run" units that, under a contract with the state, guarantee electricity at prices of no more than $ 63 per megawatt hour. When the units were out of service, the state was left to buy electricity from AES units with no must-run contracts - at $ 750 per megawatt, which was the price cap then and represented 12 times Williams' cost, the newspaper reported.Bailey said the California Independent System Operator approved the shutdowns, which were held for scheduled maintenance and then extended somewhat. He also said that AES - not Williams - determines when plants are closed for repairs."AES makes judgments about when plants are mechanically able to operate," he said. "We're responsible for selling power and doing business."However, an AES spokesman told the Orange County Register that AES is "at the beck and call" of Williams. Bailey admitted that Williams could order shutdowns for "market-driven reasons."In May, a San Diego attorney had filed a lawsuit on behalf of the lieutenant governor of California, as well as state taxpayers, accusing Williams and other out-of-state energy companies of several illegal activities. The lawsuit first charges Williams with exercising power over electricity prices, which is unlawful in California, said Michael Aguirre, the attorney handling the lawsuit."According to an analysis of bids," Aguirre said, "Williams exercised that power 90 percent of the time."The lawsuit also claims that Williams coordinated its pricing activities with other gas-fired generator owners, thus violating antitrust laws. In June, AES confirmed in a filing with the <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=%22Securities+and+Exchange+Commission%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> that both it and Williams are being targeted with an antitrust probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.Bailey dismissed the validity of the claims against his company."These are obviously easy allegations to make - and they serve a political purpose," he said. "But the reality is that they're not true."Thus far, Williams has maintained its innocence on all charges lobbed against the company. In late April, however, Williams agreed to refund $ 8 million in electricity profits earned during the AES must-run outages. Williams is so far the only energy company to volunteer a refund. But the refund - which halted an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - came with the company's denial of any wrongdoing.Bailey said Williams offered the refund because it needed to focus on supplying California with energy instead of getting sidetracked by an issue that, "in the grand scheme of things, is small." He said a more important issue for Williams is the money still owed the company by California. Since last fall, Bailey said, California has run up a $ 600 million unpaid bill for power already supplied by Williams.Despite that debt, critics are sniffing at Williams' refund offer. Top California officials, led by Gov. <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=%22Gray+Davis%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Gray Davis</a>, claim Williams and other out-of-state energy companies owe the state about $ 9 billion. Besides Williams, four other major electricity suppliers - including <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=Duke" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Duke</a> Energy, <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=Dynegy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Dynegy</a> Inc., Mirant Corp. and <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=Reliant" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">Reliant</a> Energy Inc. - have been accused of seriously overcharging California for electricity.Again, Bailey disputed the state's allegations."They have constructed a pricing mechanism they think would have been appropriate," he said. "But the reality is that wasn't the pricing mechanism that was in place. Market-based prices were in place."What dictated the prices were market forces. And now, California is saying, 'We don't like the answer the market provided.'"California particularly doesn't like the profits Williams earned. Davis is claiming that Williams owes the state $ 861 million more than any other out-of-state energy company.Experts weigh inDeregulation experts generally agree that companies like Williams are not to blame for California's chaos.Ken Malloy, president of the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets, has studied the California situation extensively. While he's found the market there extremely flawed, he's seen nothing to prove that energy companies are the culprits.Malloy said that, at worst, Williams appears to be guilty of making "very shrewd business judgments" that are within the confines of the law."Yes, California created a market that allowed people to take advantage of it - and that's not a good thing," Malloy said. "But obviously, blaming the people who took advantage of a market opportunity is the wrong thing to do. You should fix your market and then allow a more effective market to operate."Malloy admitted up front that Williams holds a position on his board and has given the center money. But he also said that Williams - or any other energy company - should expect to be punished if it's broken the law.At the same time, Malloy said people should not assume that Williams' refund offer signals any sign of guilt."There are lots of reasons why somebody settles a case," he said. "The question of whether they believe they engaged in wrongdoing is, quite often, not very much a part of that calculation."Malloy has an ally in Cody Graves, a former chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission who sits on the center's board. Graves said he's incapable of determining whether companies like Williams are guilty of "gaming" the California electricity market. But even without any gaming, he said, California electricity prices would have soared to unprecedented levels.In competitive markets, supply and demand - which have been hugely imbalanced in California - determine prices, Graves said. And in truly competitive markets, companies sell products only at will, he said."How do you tell people, 'We're going to have competitive generation,' then if somebody chooses not to sell, you slap them upside the head and say, 'You can't do that'?" Graves asked.Stanford economist Frank Wolak said he has a problem with allegations that energy companies have manipulated the California electricity market. He said all firms attempt to manipulate their respective markets to maximize profits.If there's anything "a little shady" about Williams' conduct, Wolak said, it appears to be limited to the controversy surrounding AES's must-run generators. Withholding power from those units would be "on the border" of illegality, he said.Wolak described Williams' refund, associated with the AES shutdowns, as insufficient. He said the FERC must impose stiffer penalties that include both refunds and fines if it hopes to deter misbehavior."Williams is only doing what it's incented to do," Wolak said. "The FERC has to make that less profitable.... If the FERC continues to be a reluctant regulator, this will continue to happen again and again and again."For now, many Californians have lost faith that anyone - let alone the FERC - is really looking out for them. They call companies like Williams "crooks." And some feel frustrated enough to rebel.Benja Hartman, a single mother living in Oceanside on $ 15,000 a year - and fielding collection calls about her electric bills - is among them. Since deregulation, Hartman has seen her electric bill more than triple to $ 300 a month."This is really the kind of thing that wars are started over," she said. "It's time for a revolution."The 'new' CaliforniaWithin her community in an older district of Oceanside, Hartman already has seen others lose their battles to overcome high energy costs.A large florist down the street closed up shop when he could no longer power his electricity-hungry greenhouses. The neighborhood market, a corner fixture for decades, went out of business after its electric bill shot from $ 900 to $ 3,000 a month.Meanwhile, even stores like Spano's - which could survive a leap in utility costs - have been forced to raise prices. Local residents, as well as tourists stocking their rented kitchenettes, pay a few cents extra for everything from tuna to paper towels.Alex Mann, chief executive of an Internet company called clicktime.com in San Francisco, is among the fortunate few who haven't been directly impacted by high electricity bills. His business and apartment are rented, and utility costs for both were fixed before deregulation.Still, Mann has hardly escaped the fallout from California's <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=%22energy+crisis%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">energy crisis</a>. If his Internet software company goes off-line for one day, he stands to lose a quarter of his client base. So he's invested heavily in backup systems. The expense comes off his bottom line.But even those systems fail to keep things like voice mail and electric door locks working. So Mann is always waiting with trepidation for the next blackout.In the meantime, he's keeping track of how much the <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/search/?searchQuery=%22energy+crisis%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(12, 77, 157); background-color: transparent;">energy crisis</a> is costing his state. He's bookmarked the online site for his local newspaper, which has a real-time counter of electricity costs. He's also bookmarked the Web site for the California Independent System Operator, which publishes real-time data about the supply and demand of electricity.The latter site is popular throughout California, Mann said."It's become much like the weather report," he said. "People look at the graph to find out just how ugly it's going to be."Some inevitably blame companies like Williams for what they see. As the attorney representing California taxpayers, Aguirre said Williams has known finer hours in California."Right now, we've got a lot of Sooners out here, so Oklahoma's reputation is excellent," Aguirre said. "But I'm afraid Williams' reputation could use a little improvement."They're not exactly achieving their highest potential."</div>sw<div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">RRI Energy Inc. (formerly Reliant Energy), based in Houston, Texas, is a wholesale electricity provider.In Texas, RRI services nearly 1.9 million retail electricity customers, including residential, small business, commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers. RRI also serves commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland (PJM) market, and is one of the largest independent power producers in the United States, with approximately 16,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-yahoo-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a> It is now part of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NRG_Energy" title="NRG Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NRG Energy</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a>On December 3, 2010, RRI Energy merged with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mirant" title="Mirant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mirant</a> to form <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GenOn_Energy" title="GenOn Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">GenOn Energy</a>, and the corporate names and logos of both RRI Energy and Mirant were retired.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-merger-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a><table id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><td><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; width: auto; display: inline; background-image: none;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#History" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1 History</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Power_portfolio" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2 Power portfolio</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Existing_coal-fired_power_plants" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3 Existing coal-fired power plants</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#New_Jersey_sues_over_RRI_plant_emissions" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3.1 New Jersey sues over RRI plant emissions</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Coal_lobbying" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">4 Coal lobbying</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Coal_Waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5 Coal Waste</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Report_says_Pennsylvania_coal_ash_dump_is_not_adequately_protected_against_groundwater_contamination" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5.1 Report says Pennsylvania coal ash dump is not adequately protected against groundwater contamination</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Study_finds_dangerous_level_of_hexavalent_chromium_at_Reliant.27s_Seward_coal_waste_site" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5.2 Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Reliant's Seward coal waste site</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Reliant.27s_Keystone_plant_first_in_toxic_emissions.2C_10th_mercury_emissions" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5.3 Reliant's Keystone plant first in toxic emissions, 10th mercury emissions</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#California_energy_crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6 California energy crisis</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Articles_and_Resources" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7 Articles and Resources</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7.1 References</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#Related_SourceWatch_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7.2 Related SourceWatch Articles</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#External_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7.3 External Articles</a></li></ul></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">History</h2>In 2002, Texas deregulated its electricity market and Reliant now competes against other energy companies like Direct Energy, Stream Energy, Gexa Energy, Cirro Energy. At this time, Reliant Energy also separated into two publicly traded companies: Reliant Resources, Inc. and CenterPoint Energy, Inc.CenterPoint was created when Reliant Energy merged with an indirect subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. A regulated utility, CenterPoint Energy became one of the largest U.S. energy delivery companies, serving 4.7 million metered customers. In late 2002, CenterPoint distributed the stock of Reliant Resources, Inc. to CenterPoint shareholders. This spinoff created Reliant Resources with a strategy to provide competitive wholesale and retail energy service under the Reliant Energy brand. Its businesses included power generation and retail energy services in Texas’ newly deregulated electricity market. On the wholesale side, Reliant owned, had an interest in, or leased 37 operating power generation facilities serving five regions of the United States.In January 2007, the Texas electricity market became fully deregulated, and Reliant began to offer an array of products, flexible service options, and pricing arrangements to a variety of customers. At this time, Reliant was the second largest mass market electricity provider in the state of Texas, with an annual revenue of $10.9 billion and more than 3,500 employees. In February 2007, Reliant Energy announced plans for Mark Jacobs, current chief financial operator, to succeed Joel Staff as chief executive officer and for Brian Landrum to become chief operating officer.In May 2009, Reliant changed its name to RRI Energy, after completing the sale of its Texas retail business, which included the Reliant Energy name, to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NRG_Energy" title="NRG Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NRG Energy</a>. With the sale, RRI Energy is now purely a wholesale power generator, selling bulk power at market prices rather than at a regulated rate.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[5]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">Power portfolio</h2>Out of its total 21,551 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (2.02% of the U.S. total), RRI produced 54.2% from natural gas, 37.7% from coal, and 8.0% from oil. RRI owns power plants in California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-EIA-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">Existing coal-fired power plants</h2>RRI owned 26 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 8,134 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Reliant's coal power plants:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-EIA-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[7]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[8]</a><table class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-collapse: collapse; color: black; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Plant Name</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">State</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">County</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; width: 175px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Year(s) Built</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; width: 75px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Capacity</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; width: 100px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2007 CO2Emissions</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); text-align: center; width: 100px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2006 SO2Emissions</th></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Conemaugh_Generating_Station" title="Conemaugh Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Conemaugh</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Indiana</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1970, 1971</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">1872 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">12,100,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">8,037 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Keystone_Generating_Station" title="Keystone Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Keystone</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Armstrong</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1967, 1968</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">1872 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">11,500,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">164,354 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Avon_Lake_Power_Plant" title="Avon Lake Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Avon Lake</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">OH</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Lorain</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1949, 1970</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">766 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">2,574,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">43,479 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Cheswick_Power_Station" title="Cheswick Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Cheswick</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Allegheny</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1970</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">637 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">3,161,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">32,373 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Shawville_Generating_Station" title="Shawville Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Shawville</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Clearfield</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1954, 1959, 1960</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">626 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">3,107,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">47,287 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Seward_Generating_Station" title="Seward Generating Station" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Seward</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Indiana</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">2004</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">585 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">3,269,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">18,531 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Elrama_Power_Plant" title="Elrama Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Elrama</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Washington</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1952, 1953, 1954, 1960</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">510 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">2,440,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">4,675 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portland_Generating_Station" title="Portland Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Portland</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Northampton</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1958, 1962</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">427 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">2,159,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">30,685 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/New_Castle_Plant" title="New Castle Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">New Castle</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Lawrence</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1952, 1958, 1964</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">348 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">1,669,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">21,836 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Niles_Plant" title="Niles Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Niles</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">OH</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Trumbull</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1954</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">266 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">1,080,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">22,490 tons</td></tr><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Titus_Generating_Station" title="Titus Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Titus</a></th><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">PA</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">Berks</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center;">1951, 1953</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">225 MW</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">1,209,000 tons</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: right;">15,963 tons</td></tr></tbody></table>In 2006, RRI's 11 coal-fired power plants emitted 44.3 million tons of CO2 (0.73% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and 410,000 tons of SO2 (2.73% of all U.S. SO2emissions). In terms of SO2 emissions per MWh in 2006, Reliant's Portland plant is the 5th dirtiest in the U.S., followed closely by Shawville (7th), Keystone (10th), Avon Lake (11th), and Cheswick (17th).<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">New Jersey sues over RRI plant emissions</h3>In May 2010, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin filed a petition with the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Protection_Agency" title="Environmental Protection Agency" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Environmental Protection Agency</a> against RRI Energy's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portland_Generating_Station" title="Portland Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Portland Generating Station</a>, contending that it regularly exceeds federal clean-air standards and pollutes Warren County, NJ. EPA Administrator<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lisa_Jackson" title="Lisa Jackson" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Lisa Jackson</a> also voiced concerns about the facility when she was New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection commissioner from 2006 until 2008; in 2007, Jackson filed a lawsuit, which is still active, making similar claims about EPA inaction. The EPA said it is putting off any action until January 2011.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[9]</a>On March 31, 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted the petition by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to limit <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sulfur_dioxide" title="Sulfur dioxide" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">sulfur dioxide</a> (SO2) emissions from the Portland plant. The petition said the plant adversely impacted air quality in four northwest NJ counties: Warren, Sussex, Morris, and Hunterdon. The EPA ordered the plant to reduce its SO2 emissions by 81 percent over a three year period.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">Coal lobbying</h2>RRI Energy is a member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Coal_Ash_Association" title="American Coal Ash Association" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American Coal Ash Association</a> (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duke_Energy" title="Duke Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Duke Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Southern_Company" title="Southern Company" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Southern Company</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Electric_Power" title="American Electric Power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American Electric Power</a> as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-desmog-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[11]</a>ACAA set up a front group called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Recycling_First" title="Citizens for Recycling First" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Citizens for Recycling First</a>, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-desmog-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[11]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">Coal Waste</h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">Report says Pennsylvania coal ash dump is not adequately protected against groundwater contamination</h3>A May 2009 study released by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Integrity_Project" title="Environmental Integrity Project" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Environmental Integrity Project</a> (EIP) and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Earthjustice" title="Earthjustice" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Earthjustice</a> said that a 15-acre coal ash dump in Upper Mount Bethel Township, PA was not properly lined and did not have adequate controls to prevent groundwater contamination. The dump contains <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">coal ash</a> from the 427-megawatt <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portland_Generating_Station" title="Portland Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Portland Generating Station</a>, owned by RRI Energy. The report comes from previously unreleased data collected by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Protection_Agency" title="Environmental Protection Agency" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Environmental Protection Agency</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-kni-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a>Lisa Widawksy, an attorney for EIP, said that if the dump contaminates the groundwater with arsenic, nearby residents who drink well water could face cancer risks of 50 times higher than what EPA considers safe. Upper Mount Bethel Township Supervisor Judith Henckel said the power company needs to do more on environmental clean up.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-kni-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Reliant's Seward coal waste site</h3>The study <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/CoalAshChromeReport.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash,"</a> released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011, reported elevated levels of hexavalent <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Chromium" title="Chromium" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">chromium</a>, a highly potent cancer-causing chemical, at several <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_ash" title="Coal ash" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">coal ash</a> sites in Pennsylvania.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-blind_spot-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a> In all, the study cited 29 sites in 17 states where hexavalent chromium contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash as well as from studies by EarthJustice, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[14]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[15]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[16]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[17]</a> It included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-blind_spot-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a>According to the report, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was found at elevated levels at the following sites:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-blind_spot-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM////QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T/wDltzBKAAAAGklEQVR42mJgBAEGokgGBjBGBxBxsBqAAAMACHwALd5r8ygAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Reliant_Energy" title="Reliant Energy" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Reliant Energy</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Seward_Power_Plant" title="Seward Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Seward Power Plant</a>'s unlined coal waste pond and landfill at 330 ppb - 16,500 times the proposed California drinking water goals and 3.3 times above the federal drinking water standard.</li></ul>A press release about the report read:<dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><dd style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><dd style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[18]</a></dd></dl></dd></dl>According to the report, the electric power industry is the leading source of chromium and chromium compounds released into the environment, representing 24 percent of releases by all industries in 2009.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-blind_spot-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">Reliant's Keystone plant first in toxic emissions, 10th mercury emissions</h3>According to a July 2011 NRDC report, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://docs.nrdc.org/air/files/air_11072001a.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States,"</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Keystone_Generating_Station" title="Keystone Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Keystone Generating Station</a> released the most toxic air pollutants annually of any plant in the nation - 15.5 million pounds - based on data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (2009 data, accessed June 2011).A <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/news_03_17_10.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">2010 report</a> by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Integrity_Project" title="Environmental Integrity Project" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Environmental Integrity Project</a> using <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/EPA" title="EPA" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">EPA</a> data found that Keystone is the 10th worst <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercury_and_coal" title="Mercury and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">mercury</a> polluter in the United States, emitting 1,000 pounds of mercury in 2008, the most recent year for data, up from 846 pounds in 2007, a 18.15 percent increase.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[19]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">California energy crisis</h2>In March of 2004, a grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Reliant Energy Services, Inc. and four of its officers—Jackie Thomas, a former vice president of Reliant's Power Trading Division; Reggie Howard, a former director of Reliant's West Power Trading Division; Lisa Flowers, a term trader for Reliant's West Power Trading Division; and Kevin Frankeny, Reliant's manager of western operations—for their alleged role in the California electricity crisis. All of the defendants are residents of Texas.The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and commodities manipulation and wire fraud, as well as manipulation and attempted manipulation of the price of a commodity in interstate commerce.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-nyt-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[20]</a> The indictments were filed on April 8, 2004.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-ens-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[21]</a> On August 15, 2005, Reliant announced that it had reached a $445 million settlement with the states of California, Oregon and Washington, resolving civil litigation claims against the company related to the sale of electricity in the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001. In March 2007, Reliant agreed to pay a $22.2 million penalty in addition to a $13.8 million credit provided in a previous settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[22]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; background-image: none;">Articles and Resources</h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">References</h3><div class="references-small"><ol class="references" style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li id="cite_note-businessweek-0" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-businessweek_0-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-businessweek_0-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.1</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?symbol=RRI" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Reliant Energy Inc.</a>, BusinessWeek Company Insight Center, accessed July 2008.</li><li id="cite_note-yahoo-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-yahoo_1-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/102/102536.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Yahoo! - Reliant Energy, Inc. Company Profile</a></li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reliant.com/PublicResourceDispatcher?pageAlias=AboutUs" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"About Reliant"</a> Reliant Energy Website, September 2009</li><li id="cite_note-merger-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-merger_3-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> GenOn Energy (Dec. 3, 2010). "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.genon.com/docs/GenOn%20Energy%20Day%20One%20PR_final.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Mirant and RRI Energy Complete Merger</a>". <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=News_release&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="News release (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Press release</a>. Retrieved on <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Apr.29,2011&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Apr. 29, 2011 (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Apr. 29, 2011</a>.</li><li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090511-710637.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"RRI Energy Posts 1Q Loss On Revenue Slump, Cuts View,"</a> Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2009.</li><li id="cite_note-EIA-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-EIA_5-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-EIA_5-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6.1</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat2p2.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States 2005"</a>, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.</li><li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Environmental Integrity Project, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dirtykilowatts.org/Dirty_Kilowatts2007.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants</a>, July 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://carma.org/dig" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Dig Deeper</a>, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.</li><li id="cite_note-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Brian Murray, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/nj_environmental_official_urge.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"N.J. environmental official urges quick response to Warren County coal plant pollution"</a> NJ.com, July 12, 2010.</li><li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> David Gabel, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/42541" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"EPA Rules Pennsylvania Plant Must Lower Emissions into New Jersey Air"</a> Environmental News Network, April 1, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-desmog-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-desmog_10-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">11.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-desmog_10-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">11.1</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/9dcyzlqzeo1ais9/coal%20ash%20report_lores.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Coal-Fired Utilities to American Public: Kiss my Ash</a> DeSmogBlog.com & PolluterWatch, October 27, 2010.</li><li id="cite_note-kni-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-kni_11-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">12.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-kni_11-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">12.1</a> Chris Knight, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1242014772267260.xml&coll=3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Environmental group says Slate Belt coal-ash dump inadequately protecting against groundwater contamination,"</a> Express-Times, May 11, 2009.</li><li id="cite_note-blind_spot-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-blind_spot_12-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">13.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-blind_spot_12-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">13.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-blind_spot_12-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">13.2</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-blind_spot_12-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">13.3</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/CoalAshChromeReport.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash"</a> Earthjustice & Sierra Club, February 1, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> "Damage Case Report for Coal Combustion Wastes," August 2008</li><li id="cite_note-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> U.S. EPA Proposed Coal Ash Rule, 75 Fed. Reg. 35128</li><li id="cite_note-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> EarthJustice, Environmental Integrity Project, and Sierra Club, "In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment," August 2010</li><li id="cite_note-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> EarthJustice and Environmental Integrity Project, "Out of Control: Mounting Damages from Coal Ash Waste Sites," May 2010</li><li id="cite_note-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.examiner.com/green-culture-in-mankato/coal-ash-waste-tied-to-cancer-causing-chemicals-water-supplies" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Coal ash waste tied to cancer-causing chemicals in water supplies"</a> Alicia Bayer, Examiner.com, February 1, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/EIP_Top50USPowerPlantMercuryEmitters2010.FINAL042910_000.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Dirty Kilowatts: America's Top 50 Power Plant Mercury Polluters"</a> EIP Report, March 2010.</li><li id="cite_note-nyt-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-nyt_19-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/business/09reliant.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">New York Times - Reliant Told of Indictment</a></li><li id="cite_note-ens-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-ens_20-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2004/2004-04-09-03.asp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Reliant Indicted for Manufacturing California Energy Crisis</a></li><li id="cite_note-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> "Nevada Power plans to buy plant, sources say" Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 24, 2007.</li></ol></div><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto; background-image: none;">Related SourceWatch Articles</h3><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; 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This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFDL" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">GFDL</a>.</div><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 5px; margin-top: 1em; clear: both; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Categories</a>: <ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-style: none; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Climate_change" title="Category:Climate change" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Climate change</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Coal_Issues" title="Category:Coal Issues" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Coal Issues</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Energy" title="Category:Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Energy</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Companies_listed_on_the_New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Corporations" title="Category:Corporations" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Corporations</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Power_companies_and_agencies_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Power companies and agencies in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Power companies and agencies in the United States</a></li></ul></div></div>wiki
GenOn Energy, Inc., based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,Texas" title="Houston, Texas" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Houston</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Texas</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States</a>, was an energy company that provided electricity to wholesale customers in the United States. The company was one of the largest independent power producers in the nation with more than 14,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across the United States using natural gas, fuel oil and coal.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-yahoo-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[1]</a> GenOn Energy is headquartered in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliant_Energy_Plaza" title="Reliant Energy Plaza" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Reliant Energy Plaza</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Houston" title="Downtown Houston" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Downtown Houston</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a> The company, formerly known as RRI Energy, acquired <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirant" title="Mirant" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mirant</a> on December 3, 2010. The corporate names and logos of both RRI Energy and Mirant were retired.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-merger-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRG_Energy" title="NRG Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NRG Energy</a> completed its acquisition of GenOn Energy in December 2012<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a> for $1.7 billion.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[5]</a> GenOn's stock ceased trading and was exchanged for NRG stock.<table id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; display: inline-block; zoom: 1; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; background-image: none;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#History" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1 History</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#Merger_to_create_GenOn_Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.1 Merger to create GenOn Energy</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#California_energy_crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2 California energy crisis</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#Environmental_record" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3 Environmental record</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">4 See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5 References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6 External links</a></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">History[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2>In 2002, Texas <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation_of_the_Texas_electricity_market" title="Deregulation of the Texas electricity market" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">deregulated the electricity market</a> and Reliant then competed against other energy companies like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Energy" title="Direct Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Direct Energy</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TXU_Energy" title="TXU Energy" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">TXU Energy</a>. At this time, Reliant Energy also separated into two publicly traded companies: Reliant Resources, Inc. and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CenterPoint_Energy" title="CenterPoint Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">CenterPoint Energy</a>, Inc. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="New York Stock Exchange" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NYSE</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=cnp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">CNP</a>).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CenterPoint_Energy" title="CenterPoint Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">CenterPoint Energy</a> was created when Reliant Energy merged with an indirect subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. As a result of the merger, Reliant Energy shareholders received one share of CenterPoint common stock in exchange for each share of RRI common stock they held before the merger. A regulated utility, CenterPoint Energy became one of the largest U.S. energy delivery companies, serving 4.7 million metered customers. In late 2002, CenterPoint distributed the stock of Reliant Resources, Inc. to CenterPoint shareholders. This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_spin-off" title="Corporate spin-off" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">spin-off</a> created Reliant Resources with a strategy to provide competitive wholesale and retail energy service under the Reliant Energy brand. Its businesses included power generation and retail energy services in Texas newly deregulated electricity market. On the wholesale side, Reliant owned, had an interest in, or leased 37 operating power generation facilities serving five regions of the United States.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">citation needed</a>]In January 2007, the Texas electricity market became fully deregulated, and Reliant began to offer an array of products, flexible service options, and pricing arrangements to a variety of customers. At this time, Reliant was the second largest mass market electricity provider in the state of Texas, with an annual revenue of $10.9 billion and more than 3,500 employees. In February 2007, Reliant Energy announced plans for Mark Jacobs, current chief financial operator, to succeed Joel Staff as chief executive officer and for Brian Landrum to become chief operating officer.On May 1, 2009, Reliant Energy's retail electricity business was purchased by NRG Energy. The retail group retained the name Reliant Energy and the surviving wholesale business was renamed RRI Energy, Inc.<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Merger to create GenOn Energy[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Merger to create GenOn Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h3><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px; padding: 3px !important; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RRI-Logo.PNG" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/RRI-Logo.PNG/220px-RRI-Logo.PNG" width="220" height="151" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/RRI-Logo.PNG/330px-RRI-Logo.PNG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/RRI-Logo.PNG/440px-RRI-Logo.PNG 2x" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: left; padding: 3px !important;"><div class="magnify" style="margin-left: 3px; border: none !important; background-image: none !important; float: right; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RRI-Logo.PNG" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none !important; display: block; border: none !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important;"><img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.22wmf8/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" style="border: none !important; vertical-align: middle; display: block; background-image: none !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important;" /></a></div>Historical logo of RRI Energy</div></div></div>On April 11, 2010, RRI Energy and Atlanta-based <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirant_Corporation" title="Mirant Corporation" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mirant Corp.</a> announced an agreement to merge in a $1.6 billion all-stock deal, which would create one of the largest independent power plant operators in the country. The new company, to be named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genon" title="Genon" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">GenOn Energy</a>, would be based in Houston but led by Mirant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward Muller until 2013. At that time he will retire and Mark Jacobs, the president and chief operating officer of RRI Energy, will become CEO of GenOn. The new company has a market capitalization of about $3 billion, owning or operating 47 plants in 12 states capable of generating more than 24,650 megawatts of power. The merger was completed on December 3, 2010.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-merger-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">California energy crisis[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: California energy crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_energy_crisis" title="California energy crisis" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California energy crisis</a></div>In March 2004, a grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Reliant Energy Services, Inc. and four of its officers—Jackie Thomas, a former vice president of Reliant's Power Trading Division; Reggie Howard, a former director of Reliant's West Power Trading Division; Lisa Flowers, a term trader for Reliant's West Power Trading Division; and Kevin Frankeny, Reliant's manager of western operations—for their alleged role in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis" title="California electricity crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California electricity crisis</a>. All of the defendants are residents of Texas.The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and commodities manipulation and wire fraud, as well as manipulation and attempted manipulation of the price of a commodity in interstate commerce.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-nyt-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a> The indictments were filed on April 8, 2004.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-ens-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[7]</a> On August 15, 2005, Reliant announced that it had reached a $445 million settlement with the states of California, Oregon and Washington, resolving civil litigation claims against the company related to the sale of electricity in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis" title="California electricity crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California electricity crisis</a> of 2000 and 2001. In March 2007, Reliant agreed to pay a $22.2 million penalty in addition to a $13.8 million credit provided in a previous settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[8]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Environmental record[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Environmental record" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2>Researchers at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst" title="University of Massachusetts Amherst" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> have identified Reliant Energy as the 36th-largest corporate producer of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution" title="Air pollution" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">air pollution</a> in the United States, with roughly 34 million pounds of toxic chemicals released into the air every year.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[9]</a> Major pollutants indicated by the study include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid" title="Sulfuric acid" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">sulfuric</a> and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrochloric_acid" title="Hydrochloric acid" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hydrochloric acid</a> as well as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese" title="Manganese" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">manganese</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium" title="Chromium" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">chromium</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel" title="Nickel" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">nickel</a> compounds.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a>In December 2007, the US state of New Jersey sued Reliant Energy, claiming that emissions from a Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant hurt the state's air quality. New Jersey claims emissions of smog and acid rain components sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from Reliant's Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, drift into its territory. The lawsuit also claims that Reliant violated the federal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act(United_States)" title="Clean Air Act (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Clean Air Act</a> by modifying and operating the plant without required pollution control equipment and construction permits.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-enn-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[11]</a> In February 2012, in respond to an EPA ruling, GenOn Energy announced they would be shutting down the Portland Generating Station in 2015.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a>Reliant Energy claims to have made efforts toward more environmentally safe practices through the use of renewable resources such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy" title="Solar energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">solar energy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power" title="Wind power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">wind power</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill_gas" title="Landfill gas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">landfill gas</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coal_refuse&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Coal refuse (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">coal refuse</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_note-reliantprpage-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">See also[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: See also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="noprint tright portal" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><table style="line-height: 12px; max-width: 175px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr valign="middle"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Houston,Texas.png" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><img alt="Portal icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png/32px-Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png" width="32" height="21" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png/48px-Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png/64px-Flag_of_Houston%2C_Texas.png 2x" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" /></a></td><td style="padding: 0px 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Houston" title="Portal:Houston" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Houston portal</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Factory_1b.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><img alt="Portal icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Factory_1b.svg/32px-Factory_1b.svg.png" width="32" height="26" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Factory_1b.svg/48px-Factory_1b.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Factory_1b.svg/64px-Factory_1b.svg.png 2x" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" /></a></td><td style="padding: 0px 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Companies" title="Portal:Companies" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Companies portal</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crystal_energy.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><img alt="Portal icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Crystal_energy.svg/29px-Crystal_energy.svg.png" width="29" height="28" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Crystal_energy.svg/44px-Crystal_energy.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Crystal_energy.svg/59px-Crystal_energy.svg.png 2x" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" /></a></td><td style="padding: 0px 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Energy" title="Portal:Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Energy portal</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><ul style="line-height: 19.2000007629395px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CenterPoint_Energy" title="CenterPoint Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">CenterPoint Energy</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation_of_the_Texas_electricity_market" title="Deregulation of the Texas electricity market" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Deregulation of the Texas electricity market</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Reliability_Council_of_Texas" title="Electric Reliability Council of Texas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis" title="California electricity crisis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California electricity crisis</a></li></ul><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">References[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="reflist" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; list-style-type: decimal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol class="references" style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit;"><li id="cite_note-yahoo-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-yahoo_1-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/102/102536.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Yahoo! - RRI Energy, Inc. Company Profile</a></li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reliant.com/en_US/Page/Generic/Public/contact_us_overview_corp_gen.jsp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Contact Us</a>." RRI Energy. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.</li><li id="cite_note-merger-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-merger_3-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-merger_3-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.genon.com/docs/GenOn%20Energy%20Day%20One%20PR_final.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif); padding-right: 18px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Mirant and RRI Energy Complete Merger"</a> (Press release). GenOn Energy. Dec. 3, 2010. Retrieved Apr. 29, 2011.<span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGenOn+Energy&rft.btitle=Mirant+and+RRI+Energy+Complete+Merger&rft.date=Dec.+3%2C+2010&rft.genre=book&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.genon.com%2Fdocs%2FGenOn%2520Energy%2520Day%2520One%2520PR_final.pdf&rft.pub=GenOn+Energy&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook" class="Z3988" /></li><li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nrg-genon-complete-merger-creating-220000871.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nrg-genon-complete-merger-creating-220000871.html</a></li><li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/nrg-energy-to-buy-genon-for-1-7-billion/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">NRG Energy to Buy GenOn for $1.7 Billion</a></li><li id="cite_note-nyt-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-nyt_6-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/business/09reliant.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">New York Times - Reliant Told of Indictment</a></li><li id="cite_note-ens-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-ens_7-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2004/2004-04-09-03.asp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Reliant Indicted for Manufacturing California Energy Crisis</a></li><li id="cite_note-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }"Nevada Power plans to buy plant, sources say", <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Review-Journal" title="Las Vegas Review-Journal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Las Vegas Review-Journal</a>, March 24, 2007: 2D<span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGenOn+Energy&rft.atitle=Nevada+Power+plans+to+buy+plant%2C+sources+say&rft.date=March+24%2C+2007&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Las+Vegas+Review-Journal&rft.pages=2D&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li><li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.peri.umass.edu/Toxic-100-Table.265.0.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Economy_Research_Institute" title="Political Economy Research Institute" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Political Economy Research Institute</a> Toxic 100 (Study released May 11, 2006) retrieved 15 August 2007</li><li id="cite_note-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rtknet.org/new/tox100/toxic100.php?company1=20119&chemfac=chem&advbasic=bas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Toxics Release Inventory courtesy rtknet.org</a></li><li id="cite_note-enn-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-enn_11-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.enn.com/energy/article/27685" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">N.J. sues Reliant coal plant over emissions</a></li><li id="cite_note-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.mcall.com/2012-02-29/news/mc-power-plant-portland-generating-station-20120229_1_genon-energy-portland-plant-power-plants" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Portland Generating Station in Upper Mount Bethel will close in 2015</a></li><li id="cite_note-reliantprpage-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRI_Energy#cite_ref-reliantprpage_13-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reliant.com/PublicLinkAction.do?i_chronicle_id=090175228000236a&language_code=en_US&i_full_format=jsp#coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Reliant Energy - Renewable Energy Sources: Wind, Solar Energy, Coal Refuse and Landfill Gas</a></li></ol></div><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">External links[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GenOn_Energy&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: External links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2><ul style="line-height: 19.2000007629395px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reliant.com/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Reliant Energy website</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/wec/settlements/08-15-05-reliant.asp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">FERC Settlement Details</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.eisenbachconsulting.com/reliantenergy.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Summary and Analysis of Reliant Energy</a></li></ul>