More on CA energy crisis: this is an editorial from the San Diego paper. Does it strike anyone else as being a tad, shall we say, arrogant? California's needs come first, and to hell with everyone else? Can you say HUBRIS?
EDIT: or maybe it's a sign of how desperate the situation is. Still...the "it's someone else fault and they have to fix it!" mentality isn't going to help.
Union-Tribune Editorial
Call an emergency
Federal regulators idle as state goes dark
January 18, 2001
A declared state of emergency is necessary to keep the lights on, now that California's two largest utilities are teetering toward bankruptcy. But a plan to use the state budget surplus to buy wholesale power at outrageously high rates from private energy companies should bring little joy to anybody in California.
Federal authorities could have immediately put a stop to yesterday's rotating blackouts in California. This is not just a matter of a supply shortage. Power may have been deliberately withheld by out-of-state power companies yesterday, according to the California Independent System Operator, which runs the power grid. That created a real danger to public safety. But the feds, who can force generators to sell to California and can regulate wholesale prices, have been sitting on their hands as this crisis has unfolded.
Electricity is the lifeblood of our economy. Generators can't be allowed to withhold it. That's like cutting off water to the state.
The state Senate must immediately -- today -- give the Department of Water Resources the power to enter into wholesale energy contracts. Power companies won't sell to utilities, because they don't have the money. But they will negotiate with the state. The Assembly passed the bill Monday.
Next, the Legislature must give state agencies the power to order any electricity generating plant in the state that is off-line to go back on-line, and to make it a criminal act to deliberately withhold power from the grid.
Lawmakers also must initiate a state takeover of the California Independent System Operator. There are real questions about the competency of this agency. After all, its board is loaded with representatives from private power companies. The Legislature needs to remove the fox from guarding the hen house.
Perhaps most important, Gov. Gray Davis must make an emergency appeal to all Californians to conserve power. We need a clarion call to residents and businesses to turn off lights, cut down on appliance use, and reduce all nonessential power use. This is vital to solving the energy crisis. What are Californians waiting for?
The governor has been trying to negotiate long-term power contracts at reasonable rates. But, apparently, private power companies aren't interested. When the Bush administration takes over in two days, it needs to pressure private power companies to work with California. Otherwise, the economy of the biggest state will be at risk -- and, with it, the nation's economy. |
