Portland officials Sten and Mayor Tom Potter wanted to spend almost $3 Billion to publicly own a utility serving the area for much of the last century. After Enron settles with creditors, stock in PGE will once again be publicly traded.
Business was starting to organize opposition to the takeover and always questioned the city's ability to run the utility and cut rates by $100 Million. Government owning and running and "saving" us money don't generally get mentioned in the same breath.
When Enron called a halt to the negotiations over the $2.65 Billion bid, Mayor Potter stopped short of calling for condemnation, which would use the city's powers of eminent domain to take over PGE's assets against its will. The city floated the option in the past but has always seen condemnation as a legally complex and politically volatile route. One lesson to be learned in this: in the case of eminent domain, to fight, make it legally complex and politically volatile!
Update:
Did the Enron creditors save us from ourselves?