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

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (1425)	8/14/2002 4:06:08 PM
From: miraje	Respond to of 1715

S. David Freeman ricochets into power Wednesday, August 14, 2002 What would Californians think if the state government appointed disgraced Enron executive Kenneth Lay as the head of the government agency responsible for power in the state? It's a ridiculous thought. Yet on Monday, on a party line vote, the state Senate approved 25-13 the appointment of former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power general manager S. David Freeman, who is accused of gaming the electricity system in ways similar to what Mr. Lay and Enron are accused of doing. "What about Mr. Freeman and his role in the energy crisis?" asked Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine, according to a Sacramento Bee report. "Mr. Freeman as head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gouged consumers and ripped off taxpayers far more than Enron." This wasn't just partisan rhetoric by the Republican Senate minority. The Register reported earlier this summer that the Los Angeles DWP "profited from a trading scheme that bounced energy across the state and ultimately forced taxpayers to pay a nearly fourfold increase in the cost of the power, according to a 40-page transcript of energy traders' conversations ..." Called a "ricochet," DWP bought power from National Energy Group for $70 a megawatt, then sold it back NEG for $95 a megawatt. NEG then sold the power to Constellation Energy Group for $150 per megawatt, which then sold it back to Californians for about $250 a megawatt, according to the report. It's a complicated process, but essentially DWP is accused of using the Byzantine rules of the so-called de-regulated electricity system to maximize profits to extreme levels. State Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, who has led Senate hearings on price gouging, said at the time that the DWP's actions looked rotten, yet on Monday he voted the party line to approve Mr. Freeman as the head of the state's power authority. He said in published reports that he will hold Mr. Freeman accountable if evidence proves any wrongdoing during his days at DWP. What's the chance of that happening? Throughout the state's artificially caused energy crisis - a poorly drafted regulatory system that deregulated wholesale prices but capped retail prices, and energy shortages caused in part by the state's failure to build enough power plants - critics noted that Mr. Freeman's DWP charged the state more for electricity than Enron. Mr. Freeman also was fined $500 by the Fair Political Practices Commission for not disclosing financial interests. Yet Gov. Gray Davis and his fellow Democrats apparently believe that Mr. Freeman is the man to lead a government bureaucracy charged with keeping the power flowing. It's really quite astounding. ocregister.com