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Pastimes : The California Energy Crisis - Information & Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (1234)	6/17/2002 10:08:44 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1715

Gotta keep PUSHIN! CC

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (1234)	6/18/2002 2:02:01 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1715

GAO Study Faults U.S. Regulators in Aftermath of Power Crisis nytimes.com Study Faults U.S. Regulators in Aftermath of Power Crisis By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON, June 17 — More than a year after California endured power shortages and soaring energy prices, the nation's energy regulators are still not up to the task of protecting consumers and ensuring that electricity is sold at reasonable rates, a Congressional study to be made public on Tuesday has concluded. The study by the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, says the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is hobbled by antiquated procedures, legislation and perhaps a mind-set more suited to the old days when energy producers were regulated monopolies. "FERC has not yet adequately revised its regulatory and oversight approach to respond to the transition to competitive energy markets," the report states. While the energy agency recognizes that it must "fundamentally change how it does business," it has been unable to transform itself, partly because of leadership changes and high staff turnover created by higher salaries in private business, the report said. Moreover, the study found, the agency "lacks adequate enforcement `bite' to deter anticompetitive behavior or other violations of market rules" because it is simply unable to impose meaningful civil penalties. Without stronger enforcement power, the report says, the agency will not be able to deter anticompetitive behavior or outright violations of market rules. The accounting office said Congress should consider arming the energy agency with tougher regulatory powers. A copy of the study was obtained in advance by The New York Times. Patrick Wood III, who has been chairman of the energy commission since last fall, filed a response to the study in which he generally agreed with the criticism and the suggestions for change. Mr. Wood said the agency had made considerable progress in recruiting and keeping qualified people and pledged that its new Office of Market Oversight and Investigation would do a better job of watching over energy markets. In a letter to the accounting office, Mr. Wood emphasized that the energy agency needed more authority to punish lawbreakers and expressed the hope that the study would help it acquire that power. Mr. Wood agreed that "we have not yet done all we can to oversee energy markets," but he said that with the creation of the Office of Market Oversight and Investigation "that has now changed." Much of the language in the report portrays FERC as an agency adrift and with an outdated compass — though not through any fault of its own. The report is expected to spur lawmakers to at least debate whether to give the agency more authority. The study will also put pressure on FERC itself, to be more vigilant in wielding the powers it does have. Critics of the agency, which was created in 1977 as a successor to the Federal Power Commission, have sometimes accused it of paying too little attention to the results after it presided over the deregulation of the energy industry. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who heads the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, said through a spokeswoman that he wanted the General Accounting Office to continue to monitor the energy agency. Mr. Lieberman's committee asked for the study, largely because of the yearlong energy crisis in California. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said this evening that she was exploring legislation "to provide FERC with the resources it needs to protect consumers and direct the commission to ensure all electricity prices remain `just and reasonable.' " But Ms. Feinstein continued to criticize the energy agency. "It was FERC's inability and unwillingness to regulate the California energy market in the first place that led to the severe energy crisis," she said in a statement released by her office. She said she supported Mr. Wood's efforts to stabilize energy prices, but that much more needed to be done. Kevin Cadden, a spokesman for the energy agency, said that much had been done, that the report was almost describing "a FERC that no longer exists," given Mr. Wood's efforts. One safe prediction is that energy and its costs will continue to be debated, now that the biggest state has experienced power shortages along with skyrocketing prices, and now that the American public has witnessed a supposedly stable energy corporation, Enron, collapse amid accusations of fraud and deceit.