Stiffed, the banks had to wait until it was clear Mirant wouldn't be able to save itself.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

And it's bad news for the dicier power vendors, such as Calpine, Dynegy, Mirant and Reliant Resources, which may find it hard to find trading partners.

FORBES: Revenge of the wallflower

But then came July, when Mirant, Reliant Energy, Duke Energy, Dynegy and others took heat for their possible role in creating an artificial shortage during the 2001 electric power crisis.

FORBES: Where's The Juice?

Mirant, which owns power plants throughout the world and sells electricity to utilities and big corporate consumers, is suffering the Enron effect because of its energy trading and from temporarily depressed power prices.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In July 2003 Mirant entered Chapter 11.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

After Mirant, another power producer, found itself on the verge of a debt-induced meltdown two years ago, it decided to pay only portions of obligations while betting the power market would strengthen enough to give it the cash to pay its interest bills.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

Companies the FERC accuses of gaming include Sempra Energy (nyse: SRE - news - people ), Canadian provincial utility BC Hydro, Avista (nyse: AVA - news - people ), American Electric Power (nyse: AEP - news - people ), Duke Energy (nyse: DUK - news - people ), Mirant (nyse: MIR - news - people ), Dynegy (nyse: DYN - news - people ), Calpine (nyse: CPN - news - people ), Reliant, Williams Cos. (nyse: WMB - news - people ) and Constellation Energy Group (nyse: CEG - news - people ).

FORBES: In California Energy Crisis, Some Dogs Still Bark