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To: Theophile who wrote (1819)	1/18/2001 10:58:13 PM
From: Douglas Nordgren	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 46821

Looks like you'll get your day in Court - SF Sues Power Firms sfgate.com <snip> At the same time, San Francisco became the first city to sue power producers on behalf of consumers facing blackouts and high electricity bills during the state's energy crisis. San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne announced today that she is suing 13 major energy suppliers for allegedly conspiring to fix prices and withholding power supply at critical times in order to artificially boost prices. The suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court seeks to force power companies to return their allegedly ill-gotten profits -- an estimated $1 billion during the year 2000 -- to consumers. "The companies are playing with marked cards," Renne said. "They have a very dim allegiance to their customers. I think consumers know when they are being conned, and this is a clear instance of corporations taking advantage of a deregulated market to make a quick buck." Companies named in the suit include subsidiaries of PG&E. The 13 power generators are Dynegy Power Marketing; Enron Energy Services; Enron Power Marketing; PG&E Energy Trading; Reliant Energy Services; Sempra Energy Trading; Sempra Energy Resources; Southern Co. Energy Marketing; Williams Energy Marketing and Trading; Williams Energy Services Co.; Duke Energy Trading and Marketing; NRG Energy; and Morgan Stanley Capital Group. As news of San Francisco's lawsuit spread today, consumer groups praised the move. "The problems we're seeing right now have more to do with greed than the power supply," said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco. </snip>

To: Theophile who wrote (1819)	1/19/2001 2:46:41 AM
From: axial	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 46821

"I see coercion more so than conditions behind the current power snafu.' One wonders why so many prefer to see conspiracy in the current power shortage, instead of simple human fallibility. The conditions that predate the shortage are real, documented, and verifiable: the growth in population, increased industrial demand, the failure to build new generation capacity, and the continued marketing of natural gas in the face of a 6 year gap in production increases. There it is: a recipe for disaster. The other factors at play, including the question of whether the price of power is real or jacked-up, all derive from these precedents. In the presence of abundant power, and the energy to produce it, none of the problems would exist. Who is at fault? Everyone. The voters, the politicians, the utes, everyone. Why? Because nobody was given responsibility. Nobody was entrusted with the task of having an overview, of projecting future needs from present capabilities, and of creating the conditions where industry could then address the issues: generation, exploration, infrastructure. Free markets excel at dealing with abundance. Abundance creates the necessary competitive atmosphere to distribute an excess. Scarcity needs oversight. Scarcity needs planning, and discipline. California created scarcity by accident, not design. There was no conspiracy. The various outcomes of scarcity, in human affairs, are a matter of unpleasant and well-documented history. There is no mechanism by which the free market can properly address the problems created by this scarcity. Even if every player now partook in a public-spirited effort to solve the problem, the result would be chaos. That is the strength, and the weakness of the free market: independence. The situation begs for control. Without the institution of discipline in usage, without some form of rationing, and without a coherent plan, the people of California will suffer. Anathema: the salvation will be regulation, as it should be: analyze the shortage, design interim strategies to get everyone through, and institute a plan for recovery. That plan should be designed to allow industry to do what it does best: innovate, produce, and profit. In the end, ordinary people, the voters, are responsible for the world they create. If they create a world where industry fails them, then they are to blame. If they create a world in which they, and the industries that provide for them, can prosper, then they are to blame. Lawsuits may gratify, but how many bulbs will they light? California needs a strategy, with the will of the people behind it, and the political leadership to make it work. JM2C Jim