She has been widely praised for speeding the decision-making at the agency, which also regulates hydropower and wholesale electricity.

Powerex Corp. buys and sells wholesale electricity, natural gas and environmental energy products and services.

By the 1990's, the federal government was similarly speeding the deregulation of wholesale electricity markets, an effort strongly backed by Enron and other energy companies.

On April 1, 1998, California opened up a market for wholesale electricity.

The utilities say the rate increases are needed to pay the rising cost of wholesale electricity.

You are one of only a handful of major players selling wholesale electricity.

California utilities paid $6.2 billion above competitive prices for wholesale electricity over the last 10 months, state officials estimated.

The White House also argues that price caps on wholesale electricity would discourage energy companies from making investments in the new generating capacity.

At times in the last year, wholesale electricity in California has sold for thousands of dollars per megawatt-hour.

Competitors were unable to buy wholesale electricity cheaper than the utility could supply it.