GO SIMON
Posted on 08/17/2002 5:56:54 AM PDT by randita
Edited on 04/12/2004 5:41:58 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Governor's Office insists he should have power to appoint its board.
Further escalating the state-federal dispute over who should run California's power grid, federal regulators went to court Friday to try to force the Independent System Operator to create a new governing board.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
"Given its speed, my guess is this was pre-decided," said Michael Kahn, head of the ISO board. He said he was "extremely disappointed" that FERC did not either wait until any rehearing proceedings had been completed or act on Davis' suggestion that a solution could be negotiated.
Sounds like FERC is getting fed up with being poked in the eye.
If it were merely a matter of California providing for its own power needs, that would be one thing. But it imports power and that makes it subject to FERC.
I hope and expect that Davis will lose big. Californians had better hope so, unless they like Soviet-style government coming from Sacramento.
The man is incompetent. And he's still fighting to do it his way. Unbelievable.
Calpowercrisis:
| To find all articles tagged or indexed using Calpowercrisis, click below: | ||||
| click here >>> | Calpowercrisis | <<< click here | ||
| (To view all FR Bump Lists, click here) | ||||
It is also serving in violation of the Federal Power Act, which gives FERC sole authority over ISOs, the agency argues.
I will say it again. FERC has litigated the issue of its authority over transmission lines over and over and over again and has always won hands down. When Davis and the ISO tossed down the gauntlet, they effectively tossed the FERC staff, that was probably pretty fed up with California, a "side of beef" for them to feast on.
Yes, the thing was pre-determined. The staff of FERC could not resist slam dunking this one in California's face. It will be interesting to watch. It will also be interesting to see what the judge does, as he will be tempted to try to offer something to California in his decision, but the previous cases have offered opponents of FERC very little.
Earth to Gov Davis........Dumb Move Bozo!
Very well said, that is exactly how I read this as well. Everyone in the power industry knows that you don't piss off the FERC staff, they just get even later on. Davis in particular, and the California Government in general have been challenging FERC authority since the summer of 2000. At some point the FERC staff are going to loose it, and it may have happened. FERC has repeatedly forgiven all kinds of fines on California government organizations.
Based on what I suspect, I feel that the California ISO has a lot to answer for in the california power crisis. They are the source of a lot of requests for illegal or unethical conduct among the various "evil power gougers." A lot of that could come spilling out in the court case, along with FERC's simple request that contol of the ISO be divided among a greater group of stakeholders.
I think that as the trial progresses, we may see some verying interesting headlines (if the press covers the case in Distant Washington DC.) However, it is an election year and if Simons and the Republican party has any brains they will send out daily press briefings on the revelations that come out of testimony and cross examination in the court case!
What is really unbelievable is that the California state legislature hasn't jumped in and stopped him or that public opinion, the media, and business have not jumped in and told Davis to stop.
This power thing is going to significantly hamper the ability of California's economy to recover and that will prolong the tax revenue crisis that is making solving the state budget such an ugly issue.
Someone needs to point out that the long term solution to the state budget crisis is the tax revenue stream and that means improving the economy and that means making the state's businesses competitive. You can't do that with a 3'rd world country's style electric power system.
I think you are correct, but will voters really put up with someone who is destroying their economy? I pray that the voters are smarter than that. I fear that slick PR TV sound bytes are more important to voters that jobs and an economic future. Up until recently, I thought that Simons was going to win hands down, now it is hard to say.
Davis does not have a problem with being a Governor over a State headed toward a Third world electric power system. It is all about his political future on a National Level!
And from another thread:
Davis reverses on ephedra, says regulation needed Drugmaker is big contributor
We have this statement:
"Unfortunately, we can't just delete a portion of the legislation when it is on the governor's desk," she said. "This was the federal government's jurisdiction. We try to stay away from doing things on a state by state basis."
I'll be interested to see which Judge is assigned this case. I'm not sure it will make much difference, though. 100% of the case law is against Davis here, and if he wins, by some miracle, in the lower court, he'll lose from there on.
And the legislature had not rescinded his "emergency powers":
EXECUTIVE ORDER D-22-01
by the
Governor of the State of California
WHEREAS, on January 17, 2001, I proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist due to the energy shortage in the State of California; and
WHEREAS, there is a high probability that the electricity supply shortage will continue to cause rolling blackouts throughout California affecting millions of Californians; and
WHEREAS, all reasonable conservation, allocation, and service restriction measures will not alleviate this energy supply emergency; and
WHEREAS, this energy supply emergency poses a threat to public health, safety, and welfare and requires that all existing powerplants increase their generation output and that existing powerplants that are not currently operating, but have the capability to operate, be brought back on-line;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GRAY DAVIS, Governor of the State of California, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, do hereby issue this order to become effective immediately:
IT IS ORDERED that the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (hereinafter "Energy Commission") provide that all existing powerplants that increase their generation output above existing authorized levels by less than 50 megawatts using existing installed capacity, between June 1, 2001, and October 1, 2001, shall not be subject to the Energy Commission's jurisdiction for such actions during that period.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Energy Commission shall expedite to the extent feasible the processing of applications for certification for existing thermal powerplants that require retooling and a current license to operate. In order to bring such thermal powerplants online as soon as possible, the Energy Commission is authorized to reduce the time in which to conduct a reasonable review of the application, consistent with the objectives of environmental protection and the protection of public health and safety.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all local, regional, and state agencies involved in the licensing of proposed thermal powerplants in California shall work cooperatively and expeditiously with the Energy Commission and within its timeline to review all such Applications for Certification. All agencies shall diligently review such proposed license applications and provide timely comments to the Energy Commission as the Energy Commission requests.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) shall take all necessary and immediate action to ensure that powerplants in the State of California are not precluded from operating as a result of thermal limits in waste discharge requirements. The SWRCB shall take all necessary and immediate action to determine whether modification of such requirements is appropriate and, if so, to ensure timely modification to assure facility operation.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Energy Commission and SWRCB may contract for the services of necessary qualified personnel to perform these functions. Each is authorized to enter into such contracts as expeditiously as possible and for this purpose shall be exempt from the provisions of the Government Code and the Public Contract Code applicable to state contracts, including, but not limited to, advertising and competitive bidding requirements, to the extent that they would prevent, hinder, or delay the prompt mitigation of the effects of this emergency.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the State Department of Water Resources shall contract, at reasonable rates, for power from powerplants using renewable and other resources that may currently have no other market for their power.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this order shall expire on December 31, 2001 unless extended by further executive order responding to the continued need for emergency action to deal with the electricity emergency or unless terminated by proclamation of the Governor or concurrent resolution of the Legislature that the state of emergency has ended.
The activities herein are authorized to be carried out pursuant to the Emergency Services Act, Government Code Sections 8550 et seq.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given to this order.
When the final chapter on this is written, Cal ISO will look the dirtiest of them all. I don't think anyone disputes that the power producers tried to get around the restrictions imposed by California law. They had to, in order to produce power and make a profit. They also were able to make huge profits through some of those tactics.
None of that would have been possible if true deregulation had been implemented.
Cal ISO, though, engaged in numerous practices that were an attempt to rip off the producers, not only because they felt they were at war with them, but because they were under political instructions to do so. Some worked, but many backfired.
The only way to get the system working so that this is not repeated is to get Cal ISO out of Governor Davis's back pocket.
Davis is using this as a political issue, but it's really an economic issue of national scope.
I guess the same principal doesn't apply to the power industry? Situational ethics at its worst or old fashioned politics. So sad.
You are very right. The choice of judge could give Davis a few good headlines, but the final decision will favor FERC. Always has and likely always will.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.