Get ready to pay your utility bill to Halliburton

[AnnInLa]

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/23184/

Exponential Enrons Ahead

By Kelpie Wilson, TruthOut.org. Posted June 28, 2005.

A little-discussed section of the Bush energy bill will drive public utilities out of business, letting oil giants like Halliburton control your electricity.


snip

One of the least-discussed provisions in the Bush energy bill that has passed the House and is now fast-tracked in the Senate is PUHCA repeal. "Pooka repeal," you say, "what's that?" The Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA) is a cornerstone New Deal financial reform signed into law in 1935. It was the biggest battle in FDR's first term. Utilities had become cash cows for power moguls who created complex holding company pyramids for milking ultra-reliable ratepayer income to feed speculative investments. The crash of 1929 knocked these structures flat and took down millions of small investors who had been sold on the reliability of utilities as an investment.


snip

Supporters of PUHCA point out that for 50 years, we have had reliable, cheap electric power that has allowed strong economic growth, and that no PUHCA-regulated energy holding company has ever gone bankrupt. Furthermore, it was partial PUHCA repeals in the 1990s that opened the door to Enron, Westar and other energy debacles. To repeal PUHCA now is equivalent to blowing up the barn after the horses have escaped, never mind shutting the barn door.

snip

And get ready to start paying your power bill to Halliburton because some of the companies best positioned to take advantage of this deregulation are oil companies: "The top five oil companies now control 50 percent of US oil production. If they also controlled public utilities, they would be too powerful for any government to regulate," said Hargis. Also, the impact on renewable energy could be devastating. "If GE owns your utility," Hargis told me, "nothing will be able to stop them from shoving a nuclear plant down your throat. This will kill renewables."

must read at http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/23184/

[KoKo]

1. Just saw a blurb on C-Span that the Senate passed the bill this a.m.

and I guess it goes back to the House. I don't understand why none of us knew about this in time to do anything.

Or, if something IS being done behind the scenes. :shrug: Thanks for the post.

[KoKo]

2. Senate just overwhelmingly passed the bill...here's the post from LBN..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1588198

thoughtanarchist (613 posts) Tue Jun-28-05 11:15 AM
Original message
Senate overwhelmingly passes energy bill


Edited on Tue Jun-28-05 11:17 AM by thoughtanarchist

UN. 28 10:35 A.M. ET The Senate overwhelmingly approved energy legislation Tuesday that was embraced by both Republicans and Democrats, but its chance of becoming law depends on hard bargaining in the coming months with House GOP leaders who favor measures more favorable to industry.

After finishing most work on the bill late last week, the Senate approved the sweeping legislation 85-12. It includes a proposed $18 billion in energy tax breaks, an expansion of ethanol use and measures aimed at increasing natural gas imports to meet growing demand.

...

"We still have many hurdles to overcome," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who led the Democrats in fashioning the massive bill. The bill passed by the House in April differs sharply from the Senate legislation over oil production and the degree of emphasis on conservation.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the Senate bill would usher in "a new policy for the United States ... that energy should be clean, renewable and that we have conservation" to curtail energy demand. He said it would help assure a broad mix of energy sources in the future from nuclear power to wind energy.


http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8B0M0BG2....

(add link on edit)