In the energy business, having a corporate hedging programme is often seen as the mark of a mature, sober-minded company with a sound approach to risk management.

But that's not what some critics are saying in Florida, where a group of electric utilities has come under blistering criticism for nearly $6 billion in accumulated losses on their natural gas hedges. Local newspapers have skewered the firms as profligates with a "gambling problem", and consumer advocates have slammed them for saddling