Energy

PUC pressured to lay off power plant inspectors

August 15, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>"Consumers who have paid to have the regulatory protections and benefits of the PUC are not only having their money taken to bail out other government mistakes, we are losing the front line of protection against the power industry," said Douglas Heller</p>

Perspectives on Recall: Schwarzenegger and Ken Lay Meeting

August 14, 2003  ·  Carmen Balber

<p class="source">Institute for Public Accuracy</p> <p>In May of 2001, Enron's Ken Lay convened a private meeting with junk bond king Michael Milken, Los Angeles' then-Mayor Richard Riordan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, at which Lay reportedly presented his vision of solving the state's energy deregulation...</p>

California’s economy

August 12, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">CBS Evening News (6:30 PM ET) - CBS-TV</p> <p>Mr. HARVEY ROSENFIELD (Consumer Rights Advocate): The things that made California the Golden State no longer exist. We have problems in housing, health care, mass transportation, highways.</p>

SoCal Edison Power Purchase Draws Fire

July 31, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">THE ELECTRICITY DAILY</p> <p>Meanwhile, Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights told the Times, "The notion of some 30-year deal, signed-off on by FERC, is totally insufficient," adding "We don t like this structure, and we will be watching this."</p>

Edison’s Plans for New Plant Draw Heat;

July 28, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Consumer watchdogs and rival electricity producers cite worries about the structure of wholesale power deals.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"We would encourage the development of publicly owned or at least publicly regulated power plants in California to combat the failed deregulation experiment.", said Doug Heller of the Santa Monica-based FTCR.</p>

A Refinery’s Fever Pitch;

July 28, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>One of California's 13 gasoline plants strains to keep up output, but a variety of problems can lead to an outage and higher prices.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"When you see a system that is riddled with outages just at a time when people use it most, like the summer drive time, it reminds me of the California electricity crisis," said Jamie Court, executive director of FTCR.</p>

DRIVE-BY REPORT CARD OF SOME HELP

July 22, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights gives Seattle a C+ compared with other major cities in how well we control "public power and unwarranted industry intrusions into the lives and culture of residents."</p>

Chocolate Decadence

July 22, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Electric power industry officials called it a "Night of Chocolate Decadence" when they threw a soiree early this month at the home of one of their lobbyists. A bill to re-regulate the electric power industry, strongly opposed by the industry, died days</p>

Hearthside Lobbying for Energy;

July 21, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Firms won a key vote after their agents held fund-raisers in private homes for lawmakers.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"This is the perfect example of why we should ban fund-raising during the legislative session -- because the money is just too close to the decision-making," said Doug Heller, consumer advocate with FTCR.</p>

Mirant’s plants to keep operating; Energy company files for bankruptcy

July 16, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Alameda Times-Star (Alameda, CA)</p> <p>Mirant Corp.'s bankruptcy filing was not expected to affect the operations of its three Bay Area power plants, but the company may owe California $150 million to $1 billion in refunds stemming from the 2000-01 energy crisis.</p>

Direct access bill killed by Ca. Senate committee, but resurrection possible

July 14, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Electric Utility Week</p> <p>Small consumer advocates, however, said that the bill would favor large customers, which would be free to switch from the open market back to utility service while leaving bundled, or core, ratepayers to pay for more power to serve their potential need.</p>

PUC wary of PG&E deal;

June 21, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Some commissioners unhappy over 'costly' bankruptcy agreement</h3><p class="source">Alameda Times-Star (Alameda, CA)</p> <p>The governor's critical statements, and those of the PUC commissioners, set off speculation that the governor's office had engineered a deal with PG&E that Davis could criticize at first then revise later.</p>