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Santa Clara wholesale electricity brokerage firm APX Inc. says it could be driven into bankruptcy by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling that makes it "primarily liable" for up to $100 million in overcharges for energy that generators sold to California through APX's offices.
The preliminary FERC ruling in late April upheld an earlier administrative law judge decision, making privately held APX liable. FERC says APX is responsible for any overcharges because it handled the transactions.
APX is seeking a new hearing in front of the full FERC board sometime this summer.
"We feel we shouldn't be liable because we had nothing to do with the pricing," says John Yurkanin, president and CEO of APX Inc., whose company generally charges 10 cents per megawatt that it processes. "We don't get any more if the price is higher or lower. We take the package and make sure it gets delivered."
The $100 million is part of a larger refund FERC says energy generators owe the state of California. Although the final total hasn't been decided, two separate FERC rulings have put the...