Energy

California regulators, utilities look to feds to ease woes

December 14, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Associated Press</p> <p>A federal regulator is promising strong action to ease California's electricity woes after the state's second brush with blackouts in a week.</p>

California power companies on brink of bankruptcy

December 14, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News</p> <p>SAN JOSE, Calif._Wednesday's fast-emerging concern about the financial health of the state's major utility firms is prompting an alarming possibility: that taxpayers will get stuck paying the companies' multi-billion-dollar debts.</p>

Wholesale electric prices soar anew

December 13, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>With wholesale prices again soaring on California's biggest power-trading market, grid operators called the year's 30th "stage two" electric emergency Tuesday.</p>

Spiraling prices roil utility market as supplies remain pinched

December 13, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Associated Press</p> <p>With wholesale electricity prices roaring upward, Wall Street is worried about utilities' economic health and a consumer group has urged the state immediately to seize and run the strapped $20 billion electricity system.</p>

FORECAST BRIGHTER BUT ELECTRICITY PRICE SOARS

December 13, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>NORTHWEST SENDS MORE POWER TO CALIFORNIA, BUT DISRUPTION FROM UTAH PROMPTS STAGE 2 ALERT</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Day 9 of California's electricity emergency promised an improving supply picture both within the state and through more imports from the Pacific Northwest, which on Tuesday continued to dodge the expected hit from an Arctic cold front.</p>

STATE WAITS FOR BREAK IN POWER CRISIS

December 12, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>SHORTAGE: LOW SUPPLIES ARE PREDICTED FOR THE WEEK. WALL STREET DOWNGRADES UTILITIES UNABLE TO PASS ALONG RECORD PRICES FOR ELECTRICITY TO CONSUMERS</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>With scant power supplies forecast for the entire week, California's electricity emergency dragged into an eighth day Monday as record electricity prices darkened the outlook for the state's biggest utilities.</p>

Plants shut for pollution return to ease shortage

December 9, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p> <p>Consumer and environmental groups decried the hasty arrangements as a sacrifice of environmental protections, triggered by corporate attempts to profit from the crisis and a failed state government effort to deregulate the electricity industry.</p>

After Summer of Power Woes, California Is Hurting Again

December 9, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Times</p> <p>It was not supposed to be like this. Families asked to turn off their Christmas lights. Businesses required to shut down for hours for days on end. Utility executives demanding relief from the governor, warning that the state's electrical system is on</p>

STATE DECLARES FIRST STAGE 3 POWER ALERT;

December 8, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>EXPORTS ARE CURTAILED, OTHER STEPS TAKEN AS RESERVES DROP TO JUST 1.5%. OFFICIALS EXPECT FURTHER PROBLEMS</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>California's energy nightmare nearly came true Thursday as the strained electricity grid almost ran out of juice, threatening blackouts across the state.</p>

The history of the deregulation debacle

December 8, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<!-- excerpt --><p>For nearly a century, California's electricity has been provided by electric utility companies, each with their own local monopoly. This fact sheet explains how deregulation radically changed Califonria's energy system.</p>

PUC Commissioner Won’t Quit

December 8, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Besieged PUC Commissioner Rejects Calls for Resignation</h3><p class="source">San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>One of the California's top utility commissioners yesterday rejected demands that he resign, despite a finding last week that he broke state rules by investing in a wireless company his agency regulates.</p>

Consumer Group: Electricity Crisis Is Actually Utility Profiteering

December 8, 2000  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p class="source">City News Service</p> <p>The threat of rolling blackouts is masking the deregulated energy industry's attempts to manipulate electricity supplies to increase profits, a consumer advocacy group charged today.</p>