TO: CVF-NEWS FROM: Kim Alexander, CVF President DATE: February 1, 2001 RE: CA energy crisis; get informed, follow the money
Hi Folks,
As the energy crisis drags on, people are looking for information and answers. A good place to start looking is on the Internet; many government agencies involved with the crisis, as well as consumer watchdog groups and news organizations, have timely information available on their web sites. Below are some recommended links to help concerned citizens learn more about the crisis and share their views with lawmakers. Below you will also find links to the latest campaign finance disclosure reports filed Wednesday by the major utility companies and available online now.
Recommended Energy Crisis Resources
To learn more about the bill that deregulated California's electricity market, AB 1890 of 1996, take a look at the archived online bill folder, containing the text, bill analysis and legislative votes: http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_1890&sess=9596&house=B&site=sen
Governmental energy agency web sites:
California Public Utilities Commission - http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/
CPUC's Office of Ratepayer Advocates -- http://162.15.7.11/noframes.stm
California Independent System Operator (ISO) http://www.caiso.com/
California Electricity Oversight Board - http://www.eob.ca.gov/
California Power Exchange - http://www.calpx.com/
California Energy Commission - http://www.energy.ca.gov/
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) - http://www.ferc.fed.us
U.S. Department of Energy - http://www.energy.gov/
Consumer advocates/watchdogs:
UCAN (Utility Consumers' Action Network) http://www.ucan.org/
TURN (The Utility Reform Network) http://www.turn.org/
Consumers Union -- http://www.consumersunion.org
Foundation for Taxpayers & Consumers' Rights - http://ratepayerrevolt.org/
To contact your state lawmakers:
Visit Calvoter's newly-updated legislative rosters, featuring email addresses (where available), phone numbers and Capitol room numbers:
California State Senate roster:
http://www.calvoter.org/legguide/senateroster.html
California Assembly roster:
http://www.calvoter.org/legguide/assemblyroster.html
Governor Davis & other statewide officers:
http://www.calvoter.org/officers/index.html
To find the latest news on the energy crisis, visit Jack Kavanagh's Rough & Tumble web site, http://www.rtumble.com. A good "backgrounder" document is the text from the Sacramento Bee's December 2000 stakeholder forum, in which the experts and insiders give their perspectives on how we got where we are and where we go from here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/special/power/122400forum.html. The Bee's site also offers "before and after" graphics that show how deregulation changed California's electricity market: http://www.sacbee.com/news/special/power/010701graphic.html. You can also find an archive of all the Bee's stories on the crisis over the past few months at http://www.sacbee.com/news/special/power/index.html.
Follow the Money -- new California disclosure reports now online
January 31 was the deadline for all campaign committees and major donors to file their end-of-year disclosure reports. Thanks to California's Online Disclosure Act of 1997, these reports are available right now online through the Secretary of State's CAL-ACCESS program, http://cal-access.ca.gov.
A few highlights:
To view PG&E Corp.'s contributions to lawmakers during the last six months of 2000, visit http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/expn.asp?ID=1007836
To view Edison International's contributions, see http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/expn.asp?ID=1007694
Governor Gray Davis raised $14.2 million in contributions last year; all of those contributions are itemized and available online. You can search the CAL-ACCESS site, or just follow this link below to view contributions the Governor received between July - December 2000: http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/filerdetail.asp?ID=1069390
The February 1 edition of the Los Angeles Times features a good overview of Davis' latest report, highlighting $15,000 in contributions the Governor received from Edison International, and a total of $48,500 he received from PG&E. See the Times' story at: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/calpol/20010201/t000009566.html
That's it for now. Happy surfing, and remember to turn those lights off!
-- Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
kimalex@calvoter.org, 916-325-2120, www.calvoter.org
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This page was first published on February 1, 2001 | Last updated on February 1, 2001
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