Book excerpt: During the last two decades deregulation and restructuring were widely expected to transform the nation’s energy industries, bringing more competitive pricing and abundant, reliable energy to the public. Instead, consumers and investors in the post-Enron era have suffered losses measured in the billions, attributable to market-rigging, accounting fraud, and business plans that were doomed to failure. In this in-depth look at the latest era of greed, the author explains how the leaders of these companies schemed, collaborated or ignored the obvious signs that signaled the oncoming failures of well-established energy companies. Key Features: • What reforms are necessary in corporate accounting and reporting • The consequences of corporate boards that blindly rubber-stamp company policies • Insight into poorly designed deregulation and the nightmare consequences for the public