The Coalition for Affordable Public Power sponsored a rally

today at the San Diego County Administration Building,

attended by about 40 people and a wide variety of speakers,

including local politicians, activists, and authorities

on the complexities of power generation.

The rally was called to bring attention to the electricity

"crisis" in California, which many maintain has been

artificially created by private energy generators.

Congressman Bob Filner referred to the $20 billion dollars

in excess costs for wholesale energy paid by the State of

California as "theft" and "one of the biggest transfers of

public wealth into private hands" in the state's history.

Newly elected San Diego District 6 City Council member

Donna Frye condemned moves by state officials to force

local municipalities to accept polluting power plants

against the will of their local citizens. She said that

it was essential for citizens to take an active role and

give their input to local officials to empower them to

fight for the rights of ordinary people.

The "Prince Myshkins," a local musical group, played a

number of satirical pieces in reference to the "crisis" and

the greed of outside interests who have profited from it.

Community activist Holly Duncan related her experiences as

an "intervenor" against the placement of a power plant in

her community in Clairemont. She said that, even though

the particulate emissions due to this plant make it a

known hazard, nothing was done to mitigate them. Her

child suffers from asthma, a condition that does not run

in her family, and she blames the plant's operations for

the onset of this condition. She said that, given that

this plant went through the normal permitting process,

and still produces unacceptable impacts, the streamlined

plant approval process announced by Governor Gray Davis

is totally unacceptable. Under the Governor's executive

orders, plants could be approved in as little as 21 days,

with little notice to the community they're sited in.

Kevin Wohlmut described the research he did on

energy consumption trends, and showed statistics

he gleaned from sources made public by California's

Independent System Operator, the consortium charged

with regulating wholesale energy supplies for the

state, showing a marked downward trend in energy

consumption by Californians over the past year.

(See http://www.wohlmut.com/kevin/Opinion/Power_crisis.htm)

Wohlmut states that "every time a stage 3 emergency or

blackout has occurred, it has been during a month where

the peak power consumption was less than the previous

year." His statistics cover the years 1999, 2000, and

2001. For instance, during blackouts this past March, power

consumption in the state was actually 5% less than at the

same time the previous year. The state's nominal generating

capacity is 50% more than the power demand during last

March's blackouts. He cites the California State Energy

Commission as maintaining that the only explanation for the

"crisis" is the deliberate withholding of power capacity

by such out-of-state owned private generators as Duke

and Dynergy. Wohlmut quipped that "I'm reluctantly forced

to agree with the Vice President when he says 'We cannot

conserve our way out of this crisis,' but only because,

whenever Californians try to conserve, the VP's friends

shut off our power to drive up prices."

Many speakers pointed to the need to develop independent,

locally owned public utilities districts in the San Diego

region, in order to free San Diegans from being plundered

by out-of-town corporate power oligopolies. Speakers urged

the attendees to support CAPP, who collected several

hundred dollars in contributions from the crowd.

CAPP, the main organizer of the day's events, meets every

Wednesday, 5:30-7pm, at the North Park Recreation Center

teen room, Idaho Street at Polk. They can be reached at

858-860-6400 x4329 or by email at cappinfo@onebox.com.