These sound like what is happening in California.

* higher bills for small business and residential consumers while large consumers receive discounts.

* degraded environmental quality through increased use of dirty plants and fossil fuels.

* elimination of energy efficiency programs.

* little or no development of renewable energy technologies.

* discrimination against low-income and rural customers.

* companies taking advantage of consumers through abusive marketing and business practices.

* unregulated monopoly utilities able to stifle competition and increase profits.

* bailing out inefficient, high-cost utilities to reward shareholders for bad business decisions.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), May 31, 2001

Answers

* chickens coming home to roost

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 31, 2001.

Power for the People

SUMMARY

A Public Interest Blueprint for Electricity Restructuring

To order the entire blueprint call (202) 588-1000 and ask for the publications department.

Released nationally by

Citizen Action
Environmental Action
Public Citizen
U.S. Public Interest Research Group

__________

Released locally by

Campaign for a Prosperous Georgia

California Public Interest Research Group

Colorado Public Interest Research Group

Energy Cents Coalition

Iowa Citizen Action Network / Iowa SEED

Coalition Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group

Nuclear Energy Information Service Public Citizen / Texas

July 3, 1996

SECOND EDITION

Power for the People

_________________________________________________________________ _____

Industry Views on Issues Raised by the Public Interest Blueprint A Public Interest Blueprint for Electricity Restructuring

Competition in the electric power industry could either usher in a new era of cleaner, more affordable energy services or prove to be the biggest consumer shakedown of our time. Americans consider electricity service to be a basic commodity, making the stakes high and the consequences potentially very severe.

With this nation on the verge of a historic transformation in the way it generates, transmits and sells electricity, the interests of average consumers must be fully represented in efforts to write the new rules that will govern competition. Power for the People outlines a comprehensive vision for restructuring the electric utility industry to benefit consumers and the environment while encouraging free and fair competition. Designed for implementation at the state level, the blueprint proposes a variety of policy mechanisms on issues that affect all Americans.

Proposals to introduce competition into electricity markets pose new challenges to regulators and elected officials. Bad public policy choices could seriously harm consumers in their pocketbooks and in the quality of their environment. Specifically, possible outcomes of restructuring include:

* higher bills for small business and residential consumers while large consumers receive discounts.

* degraded environmental quality through increased use of dirty plants and fossil fuels.

* elimination of energy efficiency programs.

* little or no development of renewable energy technologies.

* discrimination against low-income and rural customers.

* companies taking advantage of consumers through abusive marketing and business practices.

* unregulated monopoly utilities able to stifle competition and increase profits.

* bailing out inefficient, high-cost utilities to reward shareholders for bad business decisions.

In order to prevent these outcomes from occurring and ensure that benefits accrue to all classes of consumers, the blueprint proposes that states do the following:

* grant no recovery of costs for uneconomical utility assets except in special circumstances.

* break up vertically integrated utility monopolies by requiring divestiture of assets.

* create an independent energy agency to administer and oversee energy efficiency, low-income, universal service and research & development programs.

* aggressively promote an array of energy efficiency programs funded by a system benefits charge.

* guarantee universal service and bill assistance to low-income and rural consumers.

* increase the use of cleaner energy by requiring all electric service providers to certify that a percentage of their energy comes from renewable technologies.

* enact standards on fossil fuel plants ensuring that the emissions of hazardous pollutants decreases.

These issues must be addressed prior to the introduction of competition and cannot be solved simply by hoping that the free market will provide equitable solutions. All markets exist within a regulatory and policy framework that encourages certain types of business behavior. If a new utility structure provides the wrong incentives to participants, the outcome could reward wasteful energy consumption, promote the use of dirty generation sources, allow one company to dominate a given market, and make it more difficult for low-income and rural consumers to meet their basic energy needs. State legislatures and regulatory commissions must aggressively engage these issues and devise rules that facilitate competition and serve the public interest.

Consumer and environmental groups seek the creation of a safe, affordable and sustainable energy system. To that end, Power for the People offers a vision and roadmap for progressing towards a competitive market that includes minimum standards, structural mechanisms for delivering basic services, protections against market power abuses and assurances that small customers will be the first to see any benefits.

__________________________________________________

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), May 31, 2001.

We were warned about what is happening 5 years ago.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), May 31, 2001.

PIRG = Ralph Nader front group = GREENbacks in Ralphie's ascetic pockets

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), May 31, 2001.

"equitable" = nationalize it

Yep, yep, the feds will do to power what they did to the mail. You still get increases every year, it has to be subsidized incredibly anyway, and eventually they can't offer it on weekends.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

-- libs are idiots (moreinterpretation@ugly.com), May 31, 2001.

I don't understand..I am confounded...what exactly is meant..

-- dazed and confused (need help underst@nd.ing), May 31, 2001.