Top 10 Energy Stories Of 2008
Posted by Sonja Ebron
From where I sit, it’s very difficult to distinguish energy from foreign policy, especially when your country uses more energy than any other country. So here, in no particular order, are my picks for the most significant energy-related stories this year:
- Iran’s proposal for an OPEC-like consortium of the major natural gas producers
- Russia’s threat to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline during its short war with Georgia
- The 10-week scramble for gasoline in the southeast following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
- The massive increase in disconnections of utility services in deregulated areas
- The $100 swing in oil prices, with gasoline dropping from $4.00 to $1.50 in six months
- The promise of Barack Obama’s Green Team and some new thinking on energy
- Mass awareness — but no real debate — of T. Boone Pickens’ plan to sell lots of natural gas
- Iraqi journalist throws shoes at outgoing U.S. president Bush
- U.S. failure to find African host country for AfriCom
- Expulsion of U.S. diplomats from energy-rich Venezuela and Bolivia
There’s only one thing left to say –> Happy New Year!
Jim Powell for Georgia PSC
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Georgians heading to the polls on December 2nd should be sure to vote in the race for Georgia Public Service Commission. Since we lost David Burgess in 2006, there have been no progressive or pro-consumer voices on the PSC, save for Angela Spier, a Republican who chose not to run for reelection this year. Her seat is sought by Jim Powell, a career U.S. Department of Energy executive and Democrat, and Bubba McDonald, a former commissioner who paid far too little attention to consumer rights during his tenure. Angela Spier crossed party lines to endorse Powell because of his commitment to fight for both consumers and for renewable energy sources. “I think it’s time to move Georgia out of the dark ages and into the 21st century,” Powell recently told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We need to have a long-term plan, take a hard look at how we generate electricity 20 to 30 years out.” For an energy regulator in a coal-hungry southern state, you can’t get more progressive than that. Vote Jim Powell on December 2nd!
Disconnected By Deregulation
Posted by Sonja Ebron
No wonder it’s gotten more difficult to keep your lights on in deregulated areas. Residential natural gas customers in Georgia, electric customers in Texas, power and natural gas customers in New York and elsewhere have all paid much more for utilities after deregulation than before. We can now add Maryland to this sorry list.
According to The Capital, the local paper in Annapolis, Anne Arundel county officials are dealing with “a staggering increase” in the number of people needing help with electric bills. Supplier competition began two years ago in the territory of the former monopoly, Baltimore Gas & Electric, forcing household electric bills to jump 72 percent. The governor negotiated a one-time $170 credit with BGE’s parent company, Constellation Energy, which is slated to appear on September bills. Nevertheless, BGE has disconnected 12,000 people through the first five months of 2008, with 5,000 disconnections just in May (before it started getting hot in Baltimore). Despite the upcoming rebate, the company expects to disconnect 30,000 ratepayers this year, an increase of 30 percent over last year.
