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POWER ENGINEERS SUPPORTING TRUTH
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COMMENTS RECEIVED More than 200 messages
have been received by various means commenting on the activities of PEST and our
national electric power policies. The following are a collection of excerpts
from some of these letters. They have come from individuals of high and low
rank in their organizations, from all regions of the USA and several countries,
and from those affiliated with all types of government and industry
organizations. They show concern with the electric power policies and procedures
of our Federal Government and the politization and commercialization of the blackout
investigation. With a few exceptions, names and affiliations of the individuals
are not given to avoid any possible reprisals from their employers. (In addition to these comments additional comments can be found on the
PEST
Networking web site) May 17, 2004 – Retired Utility ExecutiveI have long been concerned about the lack of professional technical input and competence in setting governmental policies which address technical issues. And it isn’t only power, but almost all technical issues. The government often pretends to address these technical issues by appointing “scientists,” which more often than not are from the world of academia, from one of what I refer to as the “pseudosciences” (economics, sociology, psychology, etc., which aren’t real sciences in that they can not prove their theories by experimentation and repeatable outcomes), or from some branch of science which has no knowledge of the issue being addressed. The elevation of the pseudoscientists to the ranks of true scientists has long disturbed me and certainly has had adverse impacts on our nation. May 15, 2004 – University Professor, DCI have appreciated being on your list; it raises questions I don’t see addressed elsewhere. May 5, 2004 – Consulting Engineer, New EnglandI have seen how market participants and even FERC drive our decisions. For speaking up, I have been sidelined. April 26, 2004 - Retired Consulting Firm Executive Thanks so much!! Looking forward to receiving and reading your book. The review sounds very good! Do you need more money? Would like to make another contribution. April 8, 2004 - Union Official George Loehr does a nice job with the attached article. It’s great that T&D Magazine also carried the PEST appeal for membership. I think that with this article PEST finally got exposure of the DC Island concept and other critical issues to a good point of exposure. April 4, 2004 - Utility Engineer, South EastWe share many thoughts and beliefs about the US utility industry and its state of regulation.” March 31, 2004 - Leading Economist This is a very good and very important paper. Good writing, good tone, and important institutional information/history. Nice work. Its message is quite relevant at this time. (Re: Paper discussing why there has been a failure to pass on past technical knowledge.) March 31, 2004 – Midwest Utility Chief Executive The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has “complicated” efforts to develop a regional wholesale market in the Midwest by allowing Commonwealth Edison and American Electric Power to join in PJM Interconnection, James Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp., said. In remarks to the Electric Power 2004 meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, Rogers said “no good engineer” would have allowed the two Midwest utilities to join what is primarily a Mid-Atlantic regional transmission organization. March 21, 2004 - Leading Italian Engineer It is true that “stakeholders” are concerned with (marginally) enhancing the business prospects and (mainly) their political position and personal power. I would add that, generally speaking, the greatest damage is that they cannot transmit -- being ignorant – to the new generation the professional skills we used to have, after many years of practice and heavy work. March 15, 2004 - California Regulator Many if not most, of those presently running California government, utilities, and private industry (“merchant generators and builders of transmission lines) still adhere to an ideology where marketplace alone is expected to supply energy and reliability. The experts in types of contracts and bidding systems think they can define a set of energy “products” that will automatically produce the optimum power system. Many of my fellow regulators feel that they have no need to understand the physics or probabilities of power systems, just to understand contract law and theory. I disagree. March 14, 2004 - APPA Official Right on. (Re: Declining role of engineers) March 12, 2004 - Korean Union Leader Electricity should not be treated as common goods being traded in everyday market. It is one of the most important essential service for mankind. This is declared in United Nation’s recent resolution. March 6, 2004 - FERC Staff Member Thank you very, very much for your excellent observations about the blackout investigation! Why there should be such secrecy is beyond me. It does seem to be the antithesis of open scientific inquiry and open democratic debate. Thank you again for your excellent public service and integrity! In my view, there is no other way to live. Hang in there! March 3, 2004 - Former Utility Executive I read the whole article and I agree it is a good one. She got 99% of the situation right. You can get the excellent journal article “Can Energy Markets Be Trusted?” at the following Web site: http://www.hbtlj.org/content/v04/v04Weaverar.pdf. It is by Prof. Jacqueline Lang Weaver of the University of Houston Law Center. It was published in the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal, Vol. 4, 2003. February 23, 2004 - East Coast College ProfessorI… admire your steadfastness in pursuing PEST’s goals. February 9, 2004 - Engineering Consulting Firm Executive Thanks very much for the material (on ethics). It will help me a lot. January 28, 2004 - Engineer Consultant I’ve certainly been reading everything that you’ve sent out and find the materials along with your actions to of course be extremely productive for tackling the huge problems you describe. January 28, 2004 - Engineer in Central America You have developed an interesting initiative which deserves our congratulations and if any manner exists count on me if you want me to be involved. January 26, 2004 - University Professor, Midwest I read everything you send regarding PEST with great interest as soon as it arrives. January 23, 2004 - Government Scientist Thanks. Very insightful! Your slide says “rules are not as important as competence and integrity of those appointed to enforce them.” That’s something that doesn’t get enough visibility or attention. It’s my belief that was the most important point of the 1977 Study on Federal Regulations by the Ribicoff Committee on Government Operation. It was stated in that study that “… no amount of improvements in organization, procedure, or substantive mandate of the agencies can overcome regulatory problems if inadequate appointments are made to these agencies in the first place.” January 22, 2004 - Utility Engineer I caught your talk the other day and just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed hearing your perspective on things. Found some interesting stuff on your various websites, too. By the way, get ready to cash another one of those $6 royalty checks, I couldn’t resist ordering the books you mentioned. January 20, 2004 - Engineering Consultant Your presentation resonated in my thinking and I’d like to learn more about how to learn more. Please offer me some advice on how I can help protect our electric system. I did check out www.obligationsneeded.com also. It’s right. January 17, 2004 – Engineering Consultant, ColoradoSupporting your cause. January 15, 2004 - Former Utility Executive, Southeast The Interim Report is very careful to limit its conclusions to “direct, principal, or sole cause of the blackout.” (Page 20 of the report). This specifically avoids consideration of the underlying cause … to many utility executives, this has to be the structural change in our industry. It is these which have led to the rather obvious changes in corporate and operational emphasis. With the current situation, it was not a question of whether there would be a major blackout, only a question of when and where. The “causes” on page 23 of the report are not basic at all -- only what resulted when industry rules were changed. New rules simply need careful analysis before implementation. Can PEST help? January 13, 2004 - Utility Newsletter Executives at American Electric Power Co., Ontario Power Generation, Inc, and other U.S. and Canadian utilities say power-grid reliability is decreasing and competition in wholesale markets is to blame, a survey found. The 2004 Electricity Outlook survey, conducted by GF Energy, LLC, a Washington-based energy consultant … January 13, 2004 - Engineer with Electrical Manufacturer Charlie Concordia held you in high regard. You also know he held Joe Swidler in high regard. Charlie often spoke of the fairness and openness with which the 1965 Blackout investigation was conducted. We are unlikely to return to that good example soon. Charlie foresaw the power grab you mentioned in your PBS interview, he said as much within a day of the 2003 Blackout. He said to me on several occasions that one result of the 1965 Blackout was that many people began to realize the amount of political power that could come with being a governmental regulator. Power is hard to resist when it is yours for the taking. December 25, 2003 - Belgian Engineer Thank you for this information I transferred to some friends of mine. December 23, 2003 - University Professor, Florida You continue to impress me with your activism and your tenacity in this power blackout area. I am glad we have you, since you are familiar with both the inside and outside issues and people relate to this problem. You bring both a wealth of knowledge and an impeccable professional history to this complicated issue. Keep up the good work. November 18, 2003 - Power System Consultant, Pacific Northwest I have, in my little corner of the country, been fighting the restructuring of the industry consistently and vigorously since I first heard whispers of it in the mid-80s. Even though I tried strenuously to avoid personal insult and undiplomatic speech in those efforts, I managed to whittle my clientele down to a single utility by 1999. November 18, 2003 - Italian Engineer I must say that when I had the news of what happened in US, my mind went immediately to you and your appassionato and long-seeing perspective of the deregulation. Similar thoughts I had when the Italian blackout - September 28 - took place. In our case we were lucky that it occurred during the night of Sunday, when the peak load was only 14 GW, compared with a 50 GW of the day! According to my perception, the professional skill of those having responsibilities in the power system analysis and control is decreasing. November 11, 2003 - Canadian University Professor Interested in getting a copy of the report as soon as possible. Some of our people here might have interesting comments to make. November 4, 2003 – Engineer, Europe I think that new energy would need an organization (independent, non-profitable, internationally organized, experts with practical experiences, with knowledge of functionality of system) exactly like you just propose. In the new Contract oriented electricity market, I think that parties will be more trusting to organization as PEST than to governmental committees or committees set by operators. October 31, 2003 – Engineer, DC Metro AreaThe only support I am sure I can provide is to join as a member. October 1, 2003 - California Regulator This is very exciting development, and I wish you every success. … So, while I am not an engineer, I have enough respect for the physical realities of the electrical system to have been appalled by the cavalier dismissal of fundamental principles of physics in favor of utopian economic theories. If there is anything I can do to help your effort (an endorsement, for example) please let me know. September 30, 2003 – USA Engineer The University of Tennessee has recently published the edited memoirs of Joseph C. Swidler, called “Power and the Public Interest”. His memoirs include his comments on the extensive blackout of 1965 and of the need for and result of a National Power Survey. Of particular interest is his description of the blackout and its investigation. The causes of the 1965 blackout have much in common with what happened on August 14, 2003. Swidler’s approach to the investigation, however, was considerably different from the present political approach. His first step was to get the best engineering talent available to investigate the blackout. Of particular interest are the recommendations he includes in the last paragraph of this section (page 160) all of which were achieved with very significant benefits to the American Public, and are of particular importance at this time. Swidler recommended (page 167) that it is especially important to prescribe the margins of reserve required to be maintained at all times for both generation and transmission capacity. The requirement for specified generation reserves has unfortunately been dropped by NERC under the mistaken belief that market forces would provide adequate reserves. So have other reliability criteria been lowered. He stresses (page 168) the failure in the process of appointing commissioners not only to the FPC (now FERC) but also to other regulatory and government agencies. Most appointees are politically acceptable but lack any experience in operating, maintenance, or managing the electric power industry. He emphasizes that technically qualified candidates are not sought out. September 11, 2003 - Consumer Advocate Thank you for taking the time to walk me through the intricacies of the electrical grid. It was nice to talk with an engineer instead of a politician. September 10, 2003 - Internet Newsletter APPA President and CEO Alan H. Richardson yesterday called for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to undertake a National Power Survey that should identify what is necessary to improve reliability, and what changes would be required in order to expand the number of transactions that can be handled. September 9, 2003 - Christian Science Monitor When conservatives trumpeted deregulation of the electricity industry in the United States a decade ago, they argued that competition and customer choice would save consumers piles of money. About $80 billion a year, said a study by Citizens for a Sound Economy. It hasn’t happened. And many factors, including higher fuel prices and waning legislative enthusiasm for deregulation, are melting away any projected savings faster than ice cream during a summer power failure. “We have seen exactly the opposite” of savings says Wenonah Hauter, director of energy and environment programs at Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C. advisory group. August 22, 2003 – Engineer, Research Organization In the last 24 hours, saw a report that FERC personnel were in the MISO control rooms while the event was happening -- did you hear that? Can’t find it now to send you a copy. August 20, 2003 - California Regulator I think the idea of an independent ad hoc group is a great idea. I’ll do some thinking about where to get help on it. August 19, 2003 - Utility Trade Association Official I like you, am concerned about the lack of attention being paid to the technical side of the electric industry. It seems that solving core issues that provide cost savings, efficiency and service reliability unfortunately does not necessarily put operating functions on the front burner for some chief executives. Every policy issue has technical implications, but too few of today’s leaders (and apparently no politician) see the connection. June 11, 2003 - Western Newspaper Reporter I am very interested in the dereg stories you send me. Touch America, formerly Montana Power, is on the ropes in my state and so is its hand-picked successor, NorthWestern Corp. of Sioux Falls, SD. June 9, 2003 - Retired Engineer I must add that I strongly suspect the same is true about deregulation of the telecommunications business; as you know I have strong doubts that consumers have saved one red cent, and in all probability they have been ripped off. June 11, 2003 - Utility Engineer Thank you. DeFazio is right on target. “There is no successfully functioning model of electricity deregulation anywhere in the world” says it all. It is sickening to recall that New Zealand was often held up as the model for the rest of the world! June 9, 2003 - Union Official At the stroke of midnight on August 1st, like Cinderella’s coach, and customers could be paying more than they did before the law passed. And if they don’t’ like it, there’s little to do except turn off the lights. The competition from independent power producers, which the bill’s advocates promised, quickly disappeared after a promising start, leaving residential customers with no choice but to stay with their established utilities. The result raises a critical question: Was deregulation a mistake? July 28, 2003 - Former California Utility Engineer I attended your “The Ethical Problems of the Electric Power Industry” Panel Session in the 2003 IEEE Power Engineering Society meeting in Toronto last week. What a timely initiative and what a suitable person such as yourself with an impeccable technical and ethical resume to run it. I am personally thrilled that you have taken up this important initiative and stand ready to help should you call on me to do so. July 28, 2003 - Former Utility Executive My copy of Spectrum arrived the other day and I was pleased to see your article on the cop out of the engineers. I think you were largely right that we did not do as good as should have in informing the public. The utility guys were muzzled by their management and in the mid and late 90s the Enron guys could dominate the debate by the perception that they were the wave of the future. So much for perception. July 9, 2003 - Congressman Peter DeFazio There is no successfully functioning model of electricity deregulation anywhere in the world. The experience in the United States has been a disaster. July 8, 2003 - College Dean of Engineering Congratulations on the publication of the new book. I really liked your article in this month’s Spectrum. Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying your summer. May 27, 2003 - Former Regulator, Midwest State Thank you so much for sending this information to me. I really appreciate it. I feel a lot better just knowing that you and others are still out there trying to stop this and in a position to get that done. If you can think of some way I can be of help, only say the word. April 26, 2003 - Former Utility Executive I hate to say we told them so but … WE TOLD THEM SO!!! March 13, 2003 - Former FERC Engineer I’ve been stirring up waters. How long will it be before FERC decides to try to shut down my article writing? I’ve never made public where I work so I guess FERC would face the prospect of getting me out of the closet in order to shut me down. January 17, 2003 - Former Executive, Consulting Firm The cows are now starting to come home big time as the result of the stupidity of the Enron’s of this world and their fellow travelers (including the so-called “Harvard Energy Group”) who got us into this mess as illustrated in the action of the California PUC who got sold this bill of goods. Look up this article. Best quote in it is “the most expensive public policy mistake in the history of California” [which could be said for the United States as whole in the public service area and probably for other countries also where dereg/privatization has been a disaster.] Hopefully those of us in the minority who have long deplored this “fad” will soon be in the majority as public opinion and the legislators begin to recognize it. Unfortunately the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has yet to figure it out and continue careening down the “dereg road” with the consumers of electricity taking the “hindmost” although it has come to a dead halt in most states except where they have not worked through to the disastrous results that will ultimately come about. December 24, 2002 - NERC Executive Thanks, Jack. August 27, 2002 - University Professor Great letter and background work! Keep up the good work and good luck!! July 9, 2002 - Utility Engineer Never before have your words echoed so clearly as I watch my daily dose of unethical business and accounting practices. How our major corporate leaders value M-O-N-E-Y; seemingly not understanding the difference between money and wealth. Grab the money and run appears to be the order of the day. Even the meager stock market upturns can’t seem to last for more than 2-3 days before the profit takers become anxious to raid the till. No wonder R&D and strategic planning suffer, as we gorge on the seed corn. What ugly times and bad example being set. Do they teach this stuff in B-schools? Carnegie, Rockefeller, Astor, and the other “robber barons” may have been super-rich, but they left institutions in their wake for society-librarians, museums, arboretums, conservatories, parks, schools, public building/facilities. What will our captains of industry today leave … indictments? It has been about 20 years since the “wizards” and “masters of the universe” realized our industry was ripe for transactional business practices and how we have energy trading and gaming of the big system. Traders swagger around and live by milking the system and sticking the delivery constraint on someone else’s back. “Screw the distribution system,” says the traders, “We’ll make money by trading.” Now there’s a strategy for the future. Money wins, wealth creation suffers again. And the customer takes it on the chin one more time as the system does not get rejuvenated as it should. July 9, 2002 - Utility Engineer Below is copied the Early Retirement package offered to those of us age 50 and up. I am 51. Keep in mind that I will have one or two children in college until 2013! June 10, 2002 - Former Utility Executive I think ethics should be the Number 1 issue for IEEE. An engineer’s obligation to serve the public has a higher propriety than any obligation to serve clients or employers. June 6, 2002 - Former Official of Reliability Council The DOE National Grid Study is essentially worthless -- when will the policy people learn that, when the Laws of Economics collide with the Laws of Physics, Physics wins -- ALWAYS! Yet experts on power systems have been essentially blackballed from any positions of authority, of even consultation, in “deregulation”. And they continue to be consciously and systematically excluded. As a consequence, we’ve had power failures, blackouts, and huge price spikes. Not to mention massive market manipulation, stock fraud, and (so far) two apparent suicides. Billions of dollars have been lost. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the concept of competition -- it just has to be done in accordance with Kirchhoff’s Laws. February 22, 2002 - Utility Engineer I read the recent paper you sent, Electric Power, National Security, and Our Economic Welfare. It is both eye-opening and scary to realize what is being perpetrated in the name of lower utility rates. Your premise is absolutely correct, there is little understanding of the basic engineering and technology of power systems by the perpetrators, with no provisions for this input from those who do understand. We are sitting atop a powder keg. The name of the game is to seize control of the purse strings and choke out dissention through the budgetary process. Make the money now and take out the profits early and often. Just compare executive salaries and compensation now with those you remember; and the real innovative risks that were taken then. Nothing worthwhile can be done without risk of legal suit or political pressure. It is all designed to intimidate people into submission. February 22, 2002 - University Professor I got your comments to NARUC and I will read over them. I think you are doing a great service to the electric industry and to consumers with your work and your presentations. I never believed there was a real gas shortage or an electrical shortage, but the traders really made out like bandits. February 5, 2002 - Power Pool Executive You have contributed a great deal to information people about our industry. January 28, 2002 - Engineer, Fusion Research It was a pleasure to meet you in Atlantic City. Your talk resonated with everyone. January 18, 2002 - Retired Official Electricity de France Congratulations for your article. The fight against ideology is difficult and dangerous whatever the ideology is: planning or competition. Happily I am now retired. Your article will help me to convince friends -- when possible -- that the public authorities are “pulling their legs” when they promote pure competition in electricity service. Thank you. December 21, 2001 - Utility Engineer Continued success in your service to the public. November 16, 2001 - University Professor, Midwest Thanks for speaking up (see Scripps Howard news article found on the Internet today). I agree with your position completely. I have been frightened by the manner in which FERC has bowed to the whishes of the big traders and consolidated all of the USA into a small number of control centers. Here in the MAPP region the engineers from the local companies tell me that now that they are part of MISO they have tried to tell MISO that MAPP is not like the rest of the US -- there are lots of special relaying schemes and other controls that must be taken into account in performing reliability studies. The MISO people are not yet up to speed and do not act like they intend to treat MAPP as anything more than just another linear system like the east coast. Would the near disaster of June 1998 in the MAPP region when an electrical storm broke the system into four parts and required heroic actions by Minnesota Power and other operators have the same outcome (system stayed up and was reconnected) under MISO? If we suffer a blackout in the MAPP region -- I will personally go to the local media and blame MISO and FERC. August 15, 2001 - Official – Texas Consulting Engineer On researching some ideas related to future planning problems, I just read your article “Electricity Choice: Pick your Poison” in PUF. I have to congratulate you on the article. I thought I was the only one with the same opinions. Your question, “Would our generation shortages have been so severe, and our reliability problems been as great, if we continued to use our former procedures of intercompany cooperation and split savings on power interchanges?” was of significant interest. I posed basically the same question to members of the Texas PUC recently … it was more specific in relating the current California condition to a prior vertically integrated one … all I received were blank stares. November 26, 2001 - University Professor I decided to let EPRI have my opinions last week at a meeting and I urged them to start to openly confront FERC and the electric industry in general to the dangers we were facing. Well, one of the people there said that EPRI had in fact written a very hush, hush “white paper” on the subject and had sent it to FERC, several political big wigs and the CEO’s of the sponsor companies (probably even to GW Bush, too). They would not even let me see a copy of it and claimed it was a highly secret document (they even kept all copies at EPRI encrypted -- how impressive indeed!) They felt after 9/11/01 that they had to start to warn the government and they believed FERC was taking a good second look at its actions. Let’s hope so. |
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