Carpe Datum

The Man Behind the Curtain

The Sideshow pointed me to this great analysis by Liberal Oasis of The Root of the Blackout Problem as framed by the pundits. The basic spin of politicans across the spectrum is that upgrades to the transmission system are going to have to be paid for by consumers, because the need for upgrades is largely being driven by increases in consumer demand. However, according to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Power companies say it so often, and with such certainty, that it has become a virtual mantra: "Skyrocketing" energy use by Californians is a root cause of the state's power crisis, and justification for surging electricity prices.

But a computer analysis of electricity usage data by The Chronicle reveals that the mantra is a myth -- that overall growth in electricity demand hasn't been nearly as great as the industry portrays it. [...]

The Chronicle's findings are based on data collected by the California Independent System Operator, a manager of the state's electricity grid. They show:

* Total electricity consumption in California increased only 4.75 percent in 2000 from 1999, a sharp contrast to claims of industry representatives, who have repeatedly relied on isolated, loose or selective comparisons that make growth appear as high as 20 percent. In fact, the single greatest hour of electricity usage in 2000 was actually lower than any peak demand period in 1999 or 1998.

* Average peak demand -- the average of the highest hour of electricity usage for each day -- increased only 4.79 percent from 1999 to 2000. Even during the months of May to September in 2000, when the greatest spikes in electricity usage occur, demand growth was only 8.31 percent higher than the same period the year before.

* More than 30 days of critical power shortage warnings, so-called Stage 3 emergencies, and two days of blackouts this year occurred at times of moderate energy use -- levels often below those at which neither warnings nor blackouts have occurred in the past.

So...what's causing the blackouts then if it isn't increasing power consumption by consumers? LiberalOasis answers:

Basically, power that used to just go from point A to point B -- from the plant to you -- is now shuttling back and forth between wholesalers, straining the system.

Thanks to deregulation. Thatís a deregulation that pretty much no regular citizen ratepayer ever asked for. [...]

Because, since the various corporate interests have showered money all over DC on elec dereg, the debate in Washington is not liberals vs. privatizers. Itís power companies vs. other power companies. And so, Richardson, a Clintonite, represents the ìopposingî view on the talkshows. But heís for dereg as well. Just a different approach that would benefit a different set of companies.

In turn, no one was there to advocate why we shouldn't lighten the load on the grid by scrapping the dereg boondoggle. This is one of those issues that drove Ralph Nader to claim there was no difference between the parties. It should be clear to all now that such a claim is wild overstatement. But on this issue, the Dems have not stood on principle.

And we will all suffer for it.

Meaningful campaign finance reform, anyone? Anyone? Publicly financed campaigns with a constitutional amendment if needed to strictly limit the influence of privately funded interest groups. That's my answer. People either have to get educated by something other than 30 second attack ads or they have to vote in complete ignorance of the issues (and hopefully not vote at all if that's the case). Hmm, I understand Dean is in favor of this, too. That's a plus.