The $10 Billion Jolt explains how greedy energy companies used California's badly-drafted laws to their advantage. And the book goes back into the history of regulatory "reform" in California to show how such trouble came about in the first place.

According to Walsh, "A complete deregulation plan would probably have made things better. And some limited reforms to the regulations would have. But what we got was the worst of all worlds—and something only power companies looking to fleece the state would love."

But, Walsh emphasizes, the fleecing was legal under the rules in place at the time.

In a separate proceeding that took place at the same time as the request to repeal the contracts, California sought $9 billion in refunds from electricity overcharges. FERC officials indicated that some refunds were due—but that they'd total more like $4 billion. And California would have to spend $3 billion of that to cover unpaid power bills still owed to electricity generators and...