The present history owes much to my 16-year career at Enron (1985–2001), the first part of which was at Transwestern Pipeline, an interstate transmission system delivering natural gas from Texas and New Mexico to California. There, I learned firsthand about rates and terms of service under rules set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and FERC’s changeover to mandatory open-access transmission from the prior regulatory regime. I also learned about California’s extensive energy and environmental controls—administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, the California Air Resources Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

My second phase at Enron was in a corporate-level position created just for me. As Director of Public Policy Analysis, I was involved in different legislative and regulatory issues and in preparing executive presentations, primarily for Ken Lay. In the debates over renewable energy and climate, I was Enron’s lone libertarian. As such, I was outnumbered by my conventional-wisdom colleagues, who on cue from the chairman pursued politically derived profits (a practice that economists call rent-seeking). Nevertheless, my voice was heard by a respectful Lay, who at least professed to believe in free markets.

Practically from the beginning, I took notes and retained materials with a company history in mind. I first proposed such a book to Enron’s then chief of staff, Ed Segner, in a memo dated February 12, 1992. In 2000, when the corporate vision was about to about to become “The world’s leading company,” I began interviewing key figures for a sanctioned corporate history. Joining me as codirector of the project was the University of Houston’s Cullen Professor of History and Business Joseph Pratt, the leading energy-industry chronicler of his generation in the tradition of Henrietta Larson and the Harvard University–led Business History Foundation. Alas, the Enron Oral History Project terminated with the implosion of the company in late 2001.

That research, as well as much other primary material collected from inside the company, is utilized throughout this book. Unless otherwise noted, copies of the referenced illustrations, promotional materials, interoffice memos, corporate documents, interviews, and emails between me and Enron executives are “in the author’s possession” and will eventually be deposited in a publicly available archive. As with Book 2, source notes (approximately 5,300); a complete bibliography (comprising approximately 1,000 entries), and 39 Internet appendixes are posted online at www.politicalcapitalism.org. Also available at that web address are fuller versions of this book’s three indexes: Name Index, Business Index, Political Economy Index. Because the online versions include a third level of analysis, they can be used for more precise searching.

My rare opportunity to apply a multidisciplinary classical-liberal worldview to Enron has been the result of many generous, patient people. My thanks begin with the board of directors of the Institute for Energy Research and IER president Thomas J. Pyle. The philanthropy of classical-liberal entrepreneur Charles Koch, as well the encouragement of my parents, the late Robert L. Bradley and Margaret Bradley, allowed me to take the intellectual road less traveled.

I also wish to acknowledge some of my intellectual debts. Early in my career, two esteemed classical-liberal scholars took a special interest in me when I was long on enthusiasm and short on expertise, not to mention published work. Donald Lavoie taught me the value of scholarship in which opposing views are deeply understood, charitably interpreted, and thoroughly evaluated. Murray Rothbard imparted the importance of a multidisciplinary worldview to produce reliable history. My 1977 summer with both in Menlo Park, California, will always be a highlight of my personal and intellectual life.

Liberty Fund colloquia, under the direction of Doug Den Uyl, have proved invaluable to my intellectual development. They built upon my earlier study of the science of liberty at seminars of the Institute for Humane Studies, now housed at George Mason University.

Economist Robert Michaels of California State–Fullerton, as well as Richard Bilas and Tom Tanton of the California Energy Commission, were great educators and proliberty allies in the most energy-unfree state in the union. I also remember many friends and teachers I met through business at the California utilities, including Larry Flexer of Southern California Gas Company and Manuel Alvarez of Southern California Edison Corporation.

Critical readers of various sections of the manuscript who (re)lived the Enron years with me include Jim Alexander, Gerald Bennett, Ron Burns, John Esslinger, Mark Frevert, Steve Harvey, Forrest Hoglund, Stan Horton, Vince Kaminski, Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche, Dan McCarty, Mike Muckleroy, Cindy Olson, Lee Papayoti, Ken Rice, Geoff Roberts, Mark Schroeder, Clark Smith, Bruce Stram, Terry Thorn, George Wasaff, and Sherron Watkins. Dozens more at Enron consented to personal interviews that are now part of the historical record.

Becky Cantrell gave me a treasure trove of internal memoranda during our last days together at Enron. My colleague Jeff Gray understood the company’s problems in real time and educated his more tenured colleagues (including me). John Olson reviewed parts of the manuscript and imparted his story of a professional analyst questioning authority, including the emperors of Enron. John Jennrich, the premier energy journalist of his era, kindly reviewed chapters and hunted down research material for this book.

Roger Donway, a scholar’s scholar, provided primary research, helped me develop the notion of contra-capitalist business management, and carefully edited the entire volume. Jean Spitzner provided the expert graphics herein. Copy editor Evelyn Pyle made sure that all was in editorial order.

The quest to pen timeless history is a long, painstaking process. My publisher and friend Martin Scrivener has been the most patient and encouraging publisher an author could have. On his watch, one book turned into three and prospectively four. I am proud to have the imprimatur of Scrivener Publishing, in conjunction with John Wiley & Sons, on this book.

Any shortcomings in this effort are my responsibility alone. I will post corrections, criticisms, and elaborations from readers at my website: www.politicalcapitalism.org/Book3/Revisions.html. To this end, I invite readers to send information to me at [email protected].

Robert L. Bradley Jr.
March 2018