Energy Crisis Trials Power Up

California appears to have lucked out with the weather this summer and avoided a major energy crisis...and that's good since we'll need all our power to follow the legal warfare from the last one!

In San Diego, jury selection is set to begin this week in the $23-billion antitrust case against Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., along with their parent company Sempra Energy. They're accused of squeezing natural gas supplies to California, contributing to wild price jumps during the state's infamous energy market meltdown of 2000-01.

In San Francisco, four former employees of Houston-based Reliant Energy Inc. will go on trial Oct. 31 on federal criminal charges that they turned off power plants in June 2000 to raise electricity prices.