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Commercial and industrial businesses are being invited to join a class-action lawsuit against TransAlta Corporation after the provincial regulator ruled the utility manipulated power prices.

Electricity consultant David Gray said he is organizing the court action in a bid to help businesses recoup the money they lost when TransAlta shut down power plants during periods of peak demand to drive up prices during the winter of 2010-11.

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“I’m doing it because we can. We’re the right guys to do it,” he said Tuesday. “It would be nice for someone to stick up for all the customers who got hosed, rather than just the big competitors.”

Monday’s ruling against TransAlta by the Alberta Utilities Commission suggests the utility caused $100-million in “harm” to Alberta electricity consumers and TransAlta’s competitors.

Gray said the overall impact “could be the better part of a billion dollars.”