{"article":{"id":8440,"heading":"Energy Independence Day in San Diego","author":"Guy Berliner","created":"2001-07-05 20:11:51","modified":"2005-08-15 00:36:13","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:36:13","article":"
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.
\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"619-233-5002","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"The Coalition for Affordable Public Power holds \"energy independence day\" rally.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/07\/energy_ind.txt","filesize":"3.9 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/07\/8440.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}