{"article":{"id":14222,"heading":"2002 Cal Gov Race: Energy Crisis Hoax","author":"Justice","created":"2002-01-20 20:40:08","modified":"2005-08-15 00:52:31","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:52:31","article":"<p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) issued a 58-page repot, entitled \"Hoax:  How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California,\" showing that the contrived California \"energy crisis\" of one year ago was a coordinated plan with the Legislative votes for taxpayer bailouts of the energy companies, as FTCR pointed out at the time.  <br><br> The report is in PDF format at: <br>  <br> http:\/\/www.consumerwatchdog.org\/utilities\/rp\/rp002169.pdf <br>  <br> Its Table of Contents is as follows: <br><br> Executive Summary..............................................2 <br>  <br> I. A Chronology of the California Deregulation Debacle ......................................5 <br>  <br> II. The Myth of the Energy Shortage............................................11 <br>  <br> III. Turning Off the Juice: What Really Caused the Energy Crisis........................23 <br>  <br> IV Turning On the Juice: The Crisis Vanishes..................................32 <br>  <br> V. The Legacy of the Deregulation Debacle..................................42 <br>  <br> VI. The Way Out of the Deregulation Debacle ........................................................53 <br>  <br> VII. Conclusion ................57 <br><br> According to FTCR's press release, at http:\/\/www.consumerwatchdog.org\/utilities\/pr\/pr002170.php3 <br>  <br> The press release highlights the following points of the report as follows: <br><br> (1)\"The rolling blackouts, which occurred on generally low-demand days, were not caused by a shortage of power plants, but by energy companies looking to maximize their prices and profits.\" <br><br> (2) \"Throughout late 2000 and 2001, when prices skyrocketed, California used less electricity than prior years, in which prices were stable and there were no blackouts.\" <br><br> (3) \"Californians overpaid $8.5 billion for electricity between January and October of 2001 alone -- and will overpay at least another $20.5 billion over the next decade. \" <br><br> (4) \"While the U.S. entered a recession during the first half of 2001, power companies, such as Enron, Duke and Reliant, reaped unprecedented windfalls.\" <br><br> As FTCR states, \"It wasn't a shortage, it was a shakedown.\" <br><br> Chapter 3 reveals the lies, as this excerpt indicates: <br><br> III. Turning Off the Juice: What Really Caused <br>  <br> the Energy Crisis <br>  <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.consumerwatchdog.org\/utilities\/rp\/rp002169.pdf","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) issued a 58-page repot, entitled \"Hoax:  How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California,\" showing that the contrived California \"energy crisis\" of one year ago was a coordinated plan with the Legislative votes for taxpayer bailouts of the energy companies, as FTCR pointed out at the time. The report is in PDF format at:http:\/\/www.consumerwatchdog.org\/utilities\/rp\/rp002169.pdf","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2002\/01\/2002_t17z29.txt","filesize":"4.3 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2002\/01\/14222.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}