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in October
From Common Courage Press
Today's
Stories
August 20, 2003
Edward Said
The Imperial Bluster of Tom Delay
August 19, 2003
Jeffrey St. Clair
Blackouts Happen
Gary Leupp
"Our Patch": Australia v. the Evil Doers of the South
Pacific
Sean Donahue
Uribe's Cruel Model: Colombia Moves Toward Totalitarianism
Matt Martin
Bush's Credibility Problem on Missile Defense
Juliana Fredman
Recipe for the Destruction of a Hudna
John Ross
Fox Government's Attack on Mexican Basques
Sasan Fayazmanesh
What Kermit Roosevelt Didn't Say
Website of the Day
Tom Delay's Dual Loyalities
August 18, 2003
Uri Avnery
Hero in War and Peace
Stan Goff
The Volunteer Military and the Wicked Adventure
Cathy Breen
Baghdad on the Hudson
Michael Kimaid
Fight the Power (Companies)!
Jason Leopold
The California Rip-Off Revisited: Arnold, Milken and Ken Lay
Matt Siegfried
The Bush Administration in Context
Elaine Cassel
At Last, A Judge Who Acts Like a Judge
Alexander Cockburn
Judy Miller's War
Harvey Wasserman
The Legacy of Blackout Pete Wilson
Website of the Day
Fire Griles!
Recent
Stories
August 16 / 17, 2003
Flavia Alaya
Bastille
New Jersey
Jeffrey St. Clair
War Pimps
Saul Landau
The Legacy of Moncada: the Cuban Revolution at 50
Brian Cloughley
What Has Happened to the US Army in Iraq?
William S. Lind
Coffins for the Crews: How Not to Use Light Armored Vehicles
Col. Dan Smith
Time for Straight Talk
Wenonah Hauter
Which
Electric System Do We Want?
David Lindorff
Where's Arnold When We Need Him?
Harvey Wasserman
This Grid Should Not Exist
Don Moniak
"Unusual Events" at Nuclear Power Plants: a Timeline
for August 14, 2003
David Vest
Rolling Blackout Revue
Merlin Chowkwanyun
An Interview with Sherman Austin
Adam Engel
The Loneliest Number
Poets' Basement
Guthrie, Hamod & Albert
Book of the Weekend
Powerplay by Sharon Beder
August 14, 2003
Peter Phillips
Inside
Bohemian Grove: Where US Power Elites Party
Brian Cloughley
Charlie Wilson and Pakistan: the Strange Congressman Behind the
CIA's Most Expensive War
Linville and Ruder
Tyson
Strike Draws the Line
Jim Lobe
Bush Administration Divided Over Iran
Ramzy Baroud
Sharon Freezes the Road Map
Tom Turnipseed
Blowback in Iraq
Gary Leupp
Condi's
Speech: From Birgmingham to Baghdad, Imperialism's Freedom Ride
Website of the Day
Tony Benn's Greatest Hits
August 13, 2003
Joanne Mariner
A Wall of Separation Through the
Heart
Donald Worster
The Heavy Cost of Empire
Standard Schaefer
Experimental Casinos: DARPA and the War Economy
Elaine Cassel
Murderous Errors: Executing the Innocent
Ralph Nader
Make the Recall Count
Alexander Cockburn
Ted Honderich Hit with "Anti-Semitism" Slur
Website of the Day
Defending Yourself Against DirectTV Lawsuits: 9000 and Counting
August 12, 2003
William Blum
Myth
and Denial in the War on Terrorism
Ron Jacobs
Revisionist History: the Bush Administration, Civil Rights and
Iraq
Josh Frank
Dean's Constitutional Hang-Up
Wayne Madsen
What's a Fifth Columnist? Well, Someone Like Hitchens
Ray McGovern
Relax,
It Was All a Pack of Lies
Wendy Brinker
Hubris in the White House
Website of the Day
Black
Mustache
August
11, 2003
Douglas
Valentine
Homeland Security for Whom?
Mickey
Z.
Bush's Progress
Bill
Glahn
RIAA Watch: Meet the New Bitch, Same
as the Old
Elaine
Cassel
Indicting DNA
Dr. Mohammad
Omar Farooq
Civil Liberties and Uncivil Super-Patriotism
Uri
Avnery
Who Will Save Abu Mazen?
Website
of the Day
RIAA Subpoena Clearinghouse
August
9 / 10, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
California's Glorious Recall!
Saul
Landau
Bush and King Henry
Gary
Leupp
On Terrorism, Methodism, "Wahhabism"
and the Censored 9/11 Report
Paul de
Rooij
The Parade of the Body Bags
Michael
Egan
History and the Tragedy of American Diplomacy
Rob Eshelman
A Home of Our Own
Daoud
Kuttab
Life as an ID Card
Philip
Agee
Terror and Civil Society: Instruments of US Policy in Cuba
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Marc Racicot: Bush's Main Man
Walt Brasch
Schwarzenegger, "Hollyweird"
and the Rigtheous Right
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush, Bribery and Berlusconi
Josh Frank
Mean, Mean Howard Dean
Elaine
Cassel
Will the Death Penalty Ever Die?
Sean Carter
Total Recall
Poets'
Basement
Hamod, Engel, Albert
August
8, 2003
John
Chuckman
What the US Says Goes
Roberto
Barreto
Defend the Vieques 12!
Bruce Gagnon
Iraq War Emboldens Bush Space Plans
Elaine
Cassel
The Reign of John Ashcroft
Dave
Lindorff
Snoops Night Out
Website
of the Day
Zero Boy
August
7, 2003
M.
Shahid Alam
It the US a "Terrorist Magnet?"
Toni
Solo
Neo-liberal Nicaragua: a New Banana
Republic
Adam Lebowitz
Hiroshima Commemorated: the View from Japan
Hanan
Ashrawi
When the Bully Whines
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Conscience Takes a Holiday
Jason
Leopold
Wolfowitz Lets Slip: Iraq Not Behind 9/11; No Ties to Al-Qaeda
Mike Kimaid
What's the Score?
Elaine
Cassel
The Smell of VICTORY: Ashcroft's Latest Stinkbomb
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
August 6, 2003
Steve
Higgs
Going to Jail for the Cause: It's Not
Easy Confronting King Coal
David
Krieger
Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Robert
Fisk
The Ghosts of Uday and Qusay
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush's War on the National Forests
Elaine
Cassel
No Fly Lists
Stan
Goff
Military Equipment and Pneumonia
Hugh Sansom
An Open Letter to Nicholas Kristof on the Nuking of Japan
August
5, 2003
Uri
Avnery
The Prisoner of Ramallah: Arafat at
74
Forrest
Hylton
Terrorism and Political Trials: the
View from Bolivia
Ray
McGovern
"We Cook Estimates to Go"
David
Morse
Poindexter's Gambit
Edward
Said
Orientallism: 25 Years Later
George
W. Bush
My Darn Good Resumé
Hammond
Guthrie
It's Incremental, Watson!
Website
of the Day
National Prayer Day
August 4, 2003
Bruce
K. Gagnon
Another Peace Activist Detained by
Airport Cops: My Story
David
Lindorff
Fear-Mongering About Social Security
Mark
Zepezauer
George F. Will: Descent into Self-Parody
James
Plummer
Tracking You Through the Mail
Mickey
Z.
Marriage Insecurity from Sharon to Bush
Bruce
Jackson
News that Isn't News: How the NYT's
Pimps for the White House
August
2 / 3, 2003
Tamara
R. Piety
Nike's Full Court Press Breaks Down
Francis
Boyle
My Alma Mater, the University of Chicago, is a Moral Cesspool
David
Vest
Sons of Paleface: Pictures from Death's Other Side
Neve Gordon
Nightlife in Jerusalem
Uri
Avnery
Their Master's Voice:
Bush, Blair and Intelligence Snafus
Robert
Fisk
Paternalistic Democracy for Iraq
Jerry
Kroth
Israel, Yellowcake and the Media
Noah Leavitt
What's Driving the Liberian Bloodbath: Is the US Obligated to
Intervene?
Saul
Landau
The Film Industry: Business and Ideology
Ron Jacobs
One Big Prison Yard: the Meaning of George Jackson
Thomas
Croft
In the Deep, Deep Rough: Reflections on Augusta
Amadi Ajamu
Def Sham: Russell Simmons New Black Leader?
Poets'
Basement
Vega, Witherup, Albert and Fleming
August
1, 2003
Joanne
Mariner
Stopping Prison Rape
Alex Coolman
Who Moved My Soap: Trivializing
Prison Rape
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Stan Goff
Injury and Decorum: The Missing Wounded in Iraq
Wayne
Madsen
Europe Unplugs from the Matrix
Robert
Fisk
Wolfowitz the Censor
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Loses Big in Puerto Rico
Website
of the Day
Stop Prisoner Rape
July
31, 2003
Ray
McGovern
The Prostitution of Intelligence
Brian
Cloughley
Wolfowitz's Operative Statement
Sheldon
Hull
The RIAA's Jihad:
The Devil's Music (Industry)
Elaine
Cassel
The Next Time You Crack a Lawyer Joke, Think of These Attorneys
Sheldon
Rampton
and John Stauber
True Lies: Propaganda and Bush's
Wars
Hammond
Guthrie
Speculation Blues
Website
of the Day
Army of One?
Congratulations
to CounterPuncher Gilad Atzmon! BBC Names EXILE Top Jazz CD
July
30, 2003
David
Lindorff
Poindexter the Terror Bookie
Marjorie
Cohn
Why Iraq and Afghanistan? It's About
the Oil
Elaine
Cassel
How Ashcroft Coerces Guilty Pleas
in Terror Cases
Zvi
Bar'el
The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War
Lisa Walsh
Thomas
Killing Mustafa Hussein: Death of a Child, Birth of a Legend?
Sean
Carter
Pat Robertson's Prayer Jihad: God, Sodomy and the Supremes
ND Jayaprakash
India and Ariel Sharon
Steve
Perry
Bush's Top 40 Lies
Standard
Schaefer
Correction about Bloomberg and Outscourcing
Website
of the Day
Bring Them Home Now!
Hot Stories
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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August
20, 2003
The Gridlock at Path
15
California's
Blackouts Were the "Wake Up" Call
By JASON LEOPOLD
The California energy crisis should have been
a warning to the White House. Opening up the electricity sector
to competition may eventually provide consumers with cheaper
power but it won't ensure a reliable flow of electricity unless
the high-voltage transmission lines used by energy companies
to send power to customers are upgraded.
But spending tens of billions of dollars
to improve the country's electricity grid doesn't give publicly
traded utilities that own the lines a return on the investment
and will likely result in a lower rating from Wall Street analysts
and even a lower valued stock. At least that's the story that's
been told by energy company executives for nearly a decade.
To top it off, the Bush administration
said California's energy crisis was an isolated incident, the
result of a poorly designed market that left to many regulatory
restrictions in place. Although that is partially true, California's
crisis was also due to an outdated infrastructure, which also
plagues other states that deregulated their power markets. The
old system puts reliability at risk and could result in widespread
blackouts, which is what happened to much of the eastern seaboard
last week.
Demand for juice, coupled with a long
out of date energy infrastructure has led to extreme bottlenecks
in the nation's transmission system, including grid constraints
that contributed to major price spikes and power outages across
the country. Currently, government codes require transmission
lines to maintain a safe clearance from the ground and other
structures, but heat caused by the current flowing through the
electrical resistance in the lines causes the lines to expand
and sag causing the power lines to trip.
Last week's historic blackout that left
an estimated 50 million people in the dark shouldn't come as
a surprise. Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson sounded an
early warning in May 2000 that the United States has the grid
of a "Third World nation" and would only be a matter
of time before the nation plunged into darkness.
"America is a superpower, but it's
got the grid of a Third World nation," Richardson said in
an interview with the Wall Street Journal on May 11, 2000, in
which Richardson had predicted that electricity shortages and
blackouts would plague the west coast that summer. A copy of
which can be found at http://www.solarattic.com/wsj.html.
"In the old days, utilities generated
electricity and delivered it to customers in exclusive territories.
To protect consumers from gouging, rates were regulated. The
result was tremendous reliability but also inefficiency and waste,"
the Journal reported. "Deregulation ... upsets that structure
and allows new players - some affiliated with utilities, some
not -- to build power plants and sell electricity. Competitive
markets set prices; risks are borne by investors, not ratepayers.
At the same time, utilities are surrendering control of long-haul
transmission lines to new nonprofit operators whose job it is
to ensure fair access to the grid -- the multistate system of
high-voltage lines. The result: a national electricity system
that is vulnerable to disruptions caused by equipment breakdowns
and human error as newly established regional grid operators
assume responsibility for much larger areas than those formerly
overseen by individual local utilities. For big energy users,
who expected deregulation to bring lower prices, not lower reliability,
it has been a worrisome experience."
A month after Richardson warned of rolling
blackouts and electricity shortages in May 2000, San Francisco
suffered through a blackout that energy experts said was the
result of a faulty transmission line known as Path 15, a major
bottleneck connecting Northern California to Southern California.
Path 15 is made up of three 500-kV lines between Northern and
Southern California, except for the segment between the Los Banos
and Gates substations, where only two 500-kV lines were built.
Path 15's low capacity has caused at
least one blackout in Northern California and played a part in
at least two others, say officials of the California Independent
System Operator, the agency that oversees California's electricity
grid. The low capacity also has been blamed for Northern California's
higher electricity prices.
Path 15 "is known nationwide as
the poster child for capacity restraint in transmission lines,"
says Robert Mitchell, executive vice president for Trans-Elect
Inc. a private non-utility company that is financing an $87 million
upgrade of Path 15.
The project will add a third line and
modify the substations at both ends of this segment to accommodate
the new line. It will add 1,500 megawatts of transmission capacity
between Northern and Southern California. Work on the transmission
line will be completed by Sept. 20, 2004. The Western Area Power
Administration, the federal agency that is overseeing the construction
contract, will own the transmission line.
The California Independent System Operator
determined that the added capacity would significantly reduce
electricity costs in California. As reported in June 2002, when
the ISO Board of Directors voted in favor of a Path 15 upgrade,
the ISO estimated Californians would save $100 million during
a normal year and more than $300 million during a dry year when
the project is complete. The ISO also noted that improving Path
15's transfer capacity could help mitigate the drought-caused
lack of hydro resources in Northern California.
But it took a crippling blackout, an
energy crisis in California and tens of billions of dollars in
higher electricity costs to get the federal government to realize
that deregulation won't work unless the power market's infrastructure
is improved. Even then, there is no guarantee that the free market
will do anything but increase the profits of energy corporations
at the expense of the average consumer.
Congressman Sam Farr, D-California, introduced
a bill to provide $350 million in loans to modernize transmission
grids across the nation. But House Majority Whip Tom Delay, R-Texas,
called Farr's proposal "demagoguery" and demanded that
his fellow Republicans vote it down, which they did.
Because of last week's blackout, DeLay
is now coming under fire by Democrats in the House. A preliminary
investigation into the events leading up to the blackout has
found that the failure of four key transmission lines in Ohio,
referred to in the industry as the Lake Erie Loop, triggered
the massive outages. It appears that part of the reason the transmission
lines tripped is that FirstEnergy, the Ohio company that owns
the power lines, was busy cooking its books and tending to its
bottom line rather than maintaining reliability of its power
lines, which was in dire need of improvements. But the company's
shareholders balked at investing hundreds of millions of dollars
into the power lines because there would be no return on the
investment.
"They're not going to spend the
money unless they can get a return on their investment,"
said Cody Graves, a former utility regulator who now leads a
company that helps customers save money in deregulated energy
markets, in an interview with The Street.com Monday. "No
company is just going to say, 'I'll spend the money and make
it up in current [utility] rates. ... And no state regulator
wants to increase the rates."
But that line of reasoning may soon change.
As more energy experts blame FirstEnergy for last week's blackout,
Wall Street analysts have warned that the company may be forced
to spend money to improve its power lines, straining the company's
finances. The prediction led Wall Street banks, like Merrill
Lynch, and ratings agencies like Standard & Poor's to downgrade
the company's stock and bond performance.
However, that's the least of FirstEnergy's
problems. A day before the blackout, lawsuits seeking class-action
status was filed against FirstEnergy alleging that, among other
things, the company inflated its earnings and stock price. On
August 5, the company reported that it would have to restate
its financial results for 2002 and the first quarter of 2003
due to its improper accounting for expenses and for above-market
leases. News of the malfeasance sent FirstEnergy's stock plummeting
8.5 percent to close at $31.33 per share on extremely heaving
trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Still, despite its other troubles, FirstEnergy
is sure it's power lines were not the cause of Thursday's widespread
blackouts.
"Contrary to misinterpretations
that identified FirstEnergy as the cause of the widespread outage,
it is clear that extensive data needs to be gathered and analyzed
in order to determine with any degree of certainty the circumstances
that led to the outage," the company said Monday in a prepared
statement. "What happened on Thursday afternoon is a very
complex situation, far broader than the power-line outages we
experienced on our system."
Jason Leopold
spent two years covering California's energy crisis as bureau
chief of Dow Jones Newswires. He is currently writing a book
on the crisis. He can be reached at: jasonleopold@hotmail.com
Weekend
Edition Features for August 16 / 17, 2003
Flavia Alaya
Bastille
New Jersey
Jeffrey St. Clair
War Pimps
Saul Landau
The Legacy of Moncada: the Cuban Revolution at 50
Brian Cloughley
What Has Happened to the US Army in Iraq?
William S. Lind
Coffins for the Crews: How Not to Use Light Armored Vehicles
Col. Dan Smith
Time for Straight Talk
Wenonah Hauter
Which
Electric System Do We Want?
David Lindorff
Where's Arnold When We Need Him?
Harvey Wasserman
This Grid Should Not Exist
Don Moniak
"Unusual Events" at Nuclear Power Plants: a Timeline
for August 14, 2003
David Vest
Rolling Blackout Revue
Merlin Chowkwanyun
An Interview with Sherman Austin
Adam Engel
The Loneliest Number
Poets' Basement
Guthrie, Hamod & Albert
Book of the Weekend
Powerplay by Sharon Beder
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