Fighting the Power Companies

PERMALINK: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/subcamp/powergrid/?

Cheaper, Cleaner Energy

Enron may be a dirty word, but day in and day out, the principles laid out by Ken Lay and his ilk are repeated as sacred to politicians and policymakers across the country. Electricity deregulation wreaked havoc on California residents and businesses, causing the worst economic disaster in the state's history. But the California energy crisis proved illustrative of the overarching problem with energy deregulation. Namely, electricity is too vital to the economy and public safety to leave in the hands of private, unregulated corporations.

Our 2002 report Hoax: How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California is the most comprehensive analysis of the energy industry's use of deregulation to rip off Californians. Download the entire report here.

Recent Articles:

Utilities paid for PUC event

By Thom Gabrukiewicz, ARGUS LEADER (S.Dakota)
May 17, 2009

SGV Water Rate Hike Proposed

By Staff Reporters, KABC TV-7 (Los Angeles, CA)
April 24, 2009

Big Water Rate Hikes On Tap For Some Valley Residents

By Alfred Lee, PASADENA STAR-NEWS
April 23, 2009

Memo at Bakersfield Refinery: Shell Oil Is "Trying to Shut Down Our Plant"

Contact: Jamie Court, 310 392-0522 ext. 327, or Judy Dugan, 213 280-0175 (cell)
January 9, 2009

The Players Club

By Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
November 3, 2008

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Oil Watchdog: BP's tax-subsidized cleanup workers from the chain gang

August 15, 2010 | Posted by Judy Dugan

You think you're done being mad at BP? You're over the fact that it's still getting piles of U.S. taxpayer subsidies, including subsidies on its cleanup payments? Think again. Jim Hightower, the Texas populist and scourge of misbehaving corporations, tells us that BP isn't just hiring out-of-work Florida Pandhandle folks--it's using semicamouflaged prison labor, and the scary fellas come with a $2,500 per-head subsidy.

Oil Watchdog: Coal's Anonymous Dirt

July 28, 2010 | dugan

Big Coal is planning an anonymous campaign blitz against elected officials (in Kentucky in this case) who dare to favor any restrictions on coal. That's according to an internal coal company memo obtained by Kentucky's Lexington Herald newspaper. This is only a tiny piece of the fallout from the Supreme Court's decision to let corporations pour unlimited anonymous money into political campaigns. How many more memos are still secret?

Oil Watchdog: BP's CEO Crisis Lurch (Again)

July 27, 2010 | dugan

"When he abruptly resigned as chief executive of BP PLC [he] left the company in disarray. The giant energy producer was struggling with a legacy of accidents and spills in the U.S." Nope, that's not about the swift booting of Tony Hayward by the BP board on Tuesday. It's from a 2007 Bloomberg story on the last crisis-fueled change in leadership at BP. If history tells the future, BP's culture of no-safety won't go away this time, either.

Oil Watchdog: Hayward's Golden Parachute Worth $18.5 Mil

July 26, 2010 | Khan Shoieb

Ahead of tomorrow's anticipated release of BP's second-quarter financial statements--and of the massive losses--BP is expected to appoint Managing Director Bob Dudley to replace Tony Hayward as CEO during tonight's board meeting in London.

Oil Watchdog: BP: How many faked photos?

July 21, 2010 | dugan

OK, BP has confessed the Photoshop fakery that made its crisis control room look busier by turning blank monitors into live shots. BP blamed it on a free-lance photographer working for them--though as blogger John Aravosis (who originally spotted the fake on BP's web site) noted, no professional would do such a crummy cut and paste. Now we find that there was at least one more like it...

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The Road To Cheaper, Cleaner Energy

Download The Road To Cheaper, Cleaner Energy handbook here:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/CleanerCheaper.pdf

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