Business briefs

SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to consider a 2004 appeals court ruling could help California recover another $3 billion from energy suppliers that benefited from the state’s electricity crisis of 2000-01, a state official said Tuesday.

The high court on Monday refused to consider an appeal filed by a group of energy companies after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2004 that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to use its full authority to order refunds sought by California.

The state asked FERC to order energy suppliers to repay $9 billion, contending it was the victim of widespread manipulation of electricity prices and supplies after it partially deregulated its electricity markets.

The supply shortages led to rolling blackouts, and the price spikes resulted in the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., filing for bankruptcy protection.

The state has been able to recover about $6 billion so far, said Erik Saltmarsh, executive director of California’s Electricity Oversight Board.

The Supreme Court’s action "keeps alive a legal theory that would be used” to recover the other $3 billion, although the 9th Circuit already has given California the right to go after about half that money under another legal theory, Saltmarsh added.

Sony offering bite-sized versions of classic television shows on MySpace

LOS ANGELES — Abbreviated versions of classic Sony Pictures Television shows such as "The Partridge Family,” "Facts of Life” and "Charlie’s Angels” are now playing on a channel the company launched on the social networking site MySpace.

The "Minisode Network” boils down sitcoms, dramas and even talk shows such as Rikki Lake into three to five minute episodes.

The site launched Wednesday with three episodes each from 15 series in Sony’s library. New episodes will be added each week with the goal of having 500 on the site by year end.

Honda has signed on as a sponsor and a short ad for its new mini-compact Fit car airs before each episode.

"This is exactly the kind of content that resonates with our audience,” said Jeff Berman, MySpace’s general manager of video. "We’re turning old school TV dinners into Internet video snacks and I think MySpace viewers will eat it up.”

Sony Pictures Television is a unit of Sony Corp.

Snyder’s RedZone obtains majority stake in dick clark productions

McLEAN, Va. — Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s RedZone Capital investment company on Tuesday bought dick clark productions inc. for $175 million in a deal that brings the Redskins and the "Bloopers” television show into the same corporate family.

Under the deal, RedZone Capital acquires a 60 percent stake in the TV production company for $135 million. Amusement park operator Six Flags Inc. — a publicly traded company that has Snyder as its board chairman and RedZone as its largest individual shareholder — gets the remaining stake for $40 million.

The deal expands Snyder’s presence in the entertainment world. In addition to the Redskins and Six Flags, Snyder is a partner in a film production company co-owned by actor Tom Cruise. Snyder’s company also owns the Johnny Rockets chain of ’50s-style diners and several sports-themed radio stations in the Washington, D.C., media market.