Energy Crisis: Leaders, Whistle-Blowers Wanted

Just days after we were lectured on how the government should let the free market alone regarding energy price gouging in California, George W. Bush seeks to federally manipulate the steel market by imposing sanctions on imported steel (June 6). The common denominator on these flip-flop views is that big business makes out at the expense of consumers. With electricity, citizens are forced to pay inflated prices to greedy monopolies, and we citizens will pay higher prices for big-ticket items such as cars and appliances if the steel sanctions are approved. If anyone had any doubts before on whom Bush caters to, it is quite clear that it is big business and not John Q. Public. If it’s not good for the goose, how can it be good for the gander?

Tim Pfeifer

Long Beach

*

Re “Natural Gas, Power Prices Drop Sharply,” June 6: Whoa! Is it so incredible? Natural gas trades in the commodity markets; its price goes up or down just like Cisco’s shares do on Nasdaq. But the problem remains: You cannot regulate one part of the system (retail electricity) and not regulate the other part of the system (wholesale electricity and natural gas).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission employs hundreds of economists. Did anyone point this out in 1996 when FERC approved the famous (or infamous) deregulation for wholesale electricity in California? Let us pray for a cool summer.

Tim Jordanides

Huntington Beach

*

A June 3 letter makes the outrageous claim that the current energy crisis is President Bush’s fault. While I certainly would not place any blame on former President Clinton for this mess, to blame Bush is absurd. These price increases would have occurred much sooner had Clinton not tapped the nation’s strategic oil reserves, temporarily manipulating the market price of oil. This fact alone proves the problem existed before the new administration was even sworn in. The blame needs to be placed where it belongs, at the feet of the politicians who have run our state for the last 20 years.

Bill Filice

Laguna Beach

*

All we need to solve our electricity problem is one whistle-blower who works inside an electric generating facility to expose the electric supply manipulation being done by the generators.

I used to work in an industrial setting similar to an electric generating facility. Claims that plants are old and therefore need to be shut down often do not hold water. Facilities like these have regularly scheduled area shutdowns, usually annually and sometimes more often, to repair or replace old parts, add new equipment, upgrade equipment and for other maintenance work. Seldom does a facility shut down in an emergency unless there is a gross mistake made by the operators. Even then, the plant could usually be brought up immediately because of some redundancy in its machinery design.

Dom Jocson

Yorba Linda