California controller Kathleen Connell warned that the recently passed $5 billion-per-year electricity rate hike will not offset losses in the state and cautioned that the state may face a “cash-flow deficit” by October... A complaint from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that a division of El Paso Corp. contributed to the current natural gas crisis by withholding access to natural gas pipelines was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); the complaint alleged that El Paso affiliates improperly shared information about pipeline capacity; over the next two months, an administrative judge will review whether El Paso’s market power contributed to skyrocketing prices of natural gas in California...Vernon, Calif.-based XOXO, a division of Aris Industries, has agreed to pay $17,433 to employees of Martinez and Sons Sportswear, a contractor that has produced apparel for the junior manufacturer; the settlement ends an ongoing dispute over back wages owed to the contractors’ workers for sewing work done for XOXO last year.