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 electricpowercrisis.
While Tokyo ElectricPower Company (Tepco) has been grappling to bring the crisis under control, it has been hard to predict the extent of damage caused to the plant and also to the surrounding areas because of radiation leaks.
They are drawing a corollary between the banking crisis that swept the nation into deep recession and the electricpower industry one that simply concludes that, unless tightly monitored, big power companies would serve their own interests.