-Caveat Lector-
Solar energy has had what problems?????
William Shannon wrote:
>
> http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/enron.htm
>
> Bush adviser's role in deciding crisis questioned
>
> BY JIM PUZZANGHERA
>
> Mercury News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON
>
> -- One of the top energy advisers to President-elect George W. Bush,
> who
> today becomes responsible for crucial decisions in how the federal
> government
> will deal with California's energy crisis, has a vested interest in
> how that
> crisis is resolved.
>
> Ken Lay, chairman and outgoing CEO of Enron, one of the nation's
> biggest
> power marketers, has a long and close relationship with Bush. One of
> his
> largest political contributors, he helped raise more than $100,000 for
> Bush's
> presidential campaign. Those roles raise serious conflict-of-interest
> questions, according to public watchdog groups.
>
> ``There's no secret he has the ear of the president,'' said Larry
> Makinson, a
> senior fellow at the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics,
> which
> tracks money in politics. He described Lay as ``the ultimate insider''
> on
> energy and in particular electricity deregulation -- the root of
> California's
> current problem.
>
> ``Energy deregulation is one of the foundations of the business plan
> for
> Enron,'' he said. ``They want it nationally, and Ken Lay has been one
> of the
> company's prime movers in this area.
>
> ''In addition to potentially boosting the fortunes of his company, Lay
> stands
> to make significant gains personally if Enron benefits from the
> resolution of
> California's energy woes. His declared holdings in the Houston-based
> company's stock are 2.9 million shares, valued at $205 million when
> the
> market closed Friday.
>
> Bush already appears to have followed Lay's lead on one aspect of
> California's severe energy problem.
>
> On Thursday, Bush for the first time said he opposed caps on wholesale
> power
> prices in the West, the same position that Lay has long stated.
> California
> Gov. Gray Davis has pressed federal regulators for such caps as energy
> prices
> have soared.
>
> Power marketers such as Enron and power-generating companies want no
> limit on
> how much they can charge to sell electricity. Any price caps would
> have to be
> approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a five-member
> panel to
> which Bush now will make two appointments and choose its head.
>
> On Friday, Lay reiterated his opposition to price caps as well, saying
> high
> electricity prices force consumers to conserve in the face of a supply
>
> shortage.
>
> ``The biggest problem in California is consumers are not going to see
> the
> price signals. If they don't see the price signals, they are not
> changing
> behavior, so the problem is going to get worse,'' he said of the
> impact of
> price caps while at a forum in Washington. ``Painful as it is, they
> need to
> see the price signals and start modifying behavior to reduce demand
> until we
> get new supplies.
>
> ''Lay has been involved in negotiations between California officials,
> federal
> regulators, utility officials and energy company executives to try to
> resolve
> the crisis by forging agreement on long-term contracts for power sales
> to
> California. An aide to Davis said he doesn't believe there is a
> serious
> conflict of interest.
>
> ``The governor knows that he has the president-elect's ear, and in
> many ways
> that can be positive,'' said Davis press aide Steve Maviglio. Lay
> ``understands the seriousness of the situation,'' Maviglio said.
>
> Lay, who was involved in inaugural festivities Friday, could not be
> reached
> for comment. But a representative of Enron, which generates very
> little power
> for California but does broker deals between utilities and other
> sources,
> said there was no conflict between Lay's closeness to the new
> president and
> his job.
>
> ``We're a buyer and a seller in California, so we don't have any
> interest in
> seeing prices be high. We just have an interest in a functioning
> market,''
> said Enron's Mark Palmer. He said the company ``does not necessarily''
> stand
> to gain from higher energy prices.
>
> Lay is one of 48 members of the incoming administration's energy
> policy
> coordinating group, set up to assist the incoming energy secretary,
> former
> U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham, as he prepares for the job. The group also
> includes a representative from Southern California Edison, one of the
> state's
> teetering utilities, as well as other energy and business interests.
>
> But Lay's influence is much deeper than that. The 58-year-old Lay has
> long
> been a close friend of his fellow Texan Bush, who was in the oil
> industry
> before he became governor of Texas. Enron and its employees were the
> top
> overall donor to Bush throughout his political career, giving $550,025
>
> through June 2000, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a
> non-partisan political research organization.
>
> ``They're politically very close, and on a personal basis they're very
>
> close,'' said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a
>
> non-profit research group that tracks money in Texas elections. ``You
> can see
> Ken Lay and the president-elect sitting side-by-side at the baseball
> games at
> Enron Field down in Houston,'' the new home of the Astros.
>
> During the 2000 campaign, Lay was one of 214 people, dubbed
> ``Pioneers'' who
> raised at least $100,000 for Bush. And after the election, many
> speculated he
> might be named energy secretary by Bush.
>
> For today's inauguration festivities alone, Lay personally gave
> $100,000, a
> figure matched both by the company's incoming CEO Jeff Skilling and
> Enron
> itself.Makinson, the campaign contribution analyst, said the Bush-Lay
> relationship is being watched closely in light of the record $192
> million the
> incoming president raised during the campaign.
>
> ``One of the early signs we're going to have from the Bush
> administration in
> how it reacts to big donors,'' Makinson said, ``is what Bush does on
> this
> problem.''
--
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The true test is to give a person power.
If you treat a relationship as if you are the only one in it, eventually
you will be.
Atrocities happen when the people about you -
start considering you surplus.
"I tolerate with the utmost latitude the right of
others to differ from me in opinion"
---- Thomas Jefferson
My Grandfather told me there are two kinds of people:
those who do the work and
those who take the credit.
He told me to be in the first group -
there is less competition there. -
Indira Gandhi
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