Feds launch Calif. electricity trading probe | News

FOLSOM, CA (AP) - Federal regulators have intensified an investigation into JPMorgan Chase & Co. electricity trading in California.

The California Independent System Operator, a Folsom-based agency that runs the state's power grid and oversees last-minute electricity sales, said earlier this year that the big electricity trader may have figured out a way to exploit vulnerabilities in the state's $8 billion-a-year electricity market.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began a formal probe on Thursday, saying JPMorgan may have submitted misleading information or omitted information in its dealings with the agency.

The Sacramento Bee says the commission has threatened to suspend JPMorgan's right to sell electricity in the California.