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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (160035)	7/11/2001 5:18:28 PM
From: J.B.C.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Electricity Golden State Bombast The public has been hit with constant claims that California's power woes were caused by price-gouging suppliers, mainly those in George Bush's Texas. It's too bad that oft-repeated myths have more staying power than the facts. We join this sad saga already in progress on Monday when a federal regulatory judge rightly refused to force power wholesales to pay $8.9 billion in refunds for alleged overcharges. The state has accused producers of holding back supply so they could drive up rates. Curtis Wagner, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's chief administrative law judge, didn't see what the state tried so hard to show, though. He said that suppliers owe no more than $1 billion; but because he says they are probably "owed" more than that by the state, he's not likely to recommend refunds when he reports to the five-member commission next week. An undeterred - and unsatisfied - governor's office said it will take the case to court and might ask for as much as $20 billion. Now that might benefit lawyers from across the country; it's not likely to be of help to California consumers, though. Nor will it do much to attract new investments in power to the state, which sorely needs new sources of electricity. Not that any of that matters in Sacramento. The governor has drawn an irrelevant line, and he's not going to back away from it. "I think we have demonstrated very clearly both to the FERC and to the judge that the state is owed $8.9 billion and will settle for nothing less" said Roger Salazar, a Davis spokesman. Wagner didn't share that opinion. If any refunds are due, the judge believes, the cost is nearer the $716 million suppliers offered in the talks. Salazar's claim can be taken seriously anyway only if all parties concede what he is implying: The state knows the right price for power. Such hubris still amazes us; and we've heard it thousands of times. We're also amazed that Gov. Davis still insists on pursuing attack-dog politics. He's taken to calling suppliers " pirates that bilked rate payers out of billions of dollars" Again, we don't see how any of this increases supply. With the constant threat of rolling blackouts, that should be consumers' - and Davis' - biggest concern. Yet the rants keep on coming, even as we further learn that they are simply not justified. The San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday that " some of the highest prices" the state has paid for power were charged by "public utilities and companies outside Texas." In Fact, the Mercury News found in documentation that nearly 40% of the states purchases for power have come from in-state, public utilities. In other words, not the greedy private sector that Davis is found of vilifying. Sadly, this tactic has worked. Most Californians think power producers are guilty of gouging. Nine of 10 think the shortages have been faked. No wrongdoing has been proven, of course. But that's not enough to stop the spread of myths. The public too often recalls the words of those who shout the longest and the loudest. And facts get lost in the bombast.