'Blackout' Tries to Shed Light on Crisis

By STEVEN LINAN, Times Staff Writer

With each passing day, there's seemingly a new surge in California's energy crisis.

"Frontline" addresses that hotbutton issue tonight in an hour aptly titled "Blackout" (9 p.m. KCET, 10 p.m. KVCR).

Through interviews with state and federal officials, utility executives and industry insiders, the documentary examines whether power companies and energy-trading giants have capitalized on deregulation to accrue enormous profits as consumers and business owners suffer power shortages and rising rate hikes.

Jeff Skilling, CEO of the Enron Corp., the largest energy trader in the world, sees his company as one of the "good guys."

"We are working to create open, competitive, fair markets," he tells reporter Lowell Bergman, who wryly notes that if true, lately the good guys have been winning since the past year has seen a large transfer of wealth from energy consumers to power sellers and traders like Enron.

After raising the topics of deregulation and the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric, Bergman interviews S. Davis Freeman, the former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power chief, Gov. Gray Davis and Vice President Dick Cheney.

There are no easy answers in this complex issue, with one side pointing fingers at the other, but one thing is certain: A long, hot summer is likely to yield more rolling blackouts for California consumers, while other states wait to see if they will be adversely affected as well.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), June 05, 2001

Answers

I have lived in Houston for almost 30 years and I would not personally turn my back on those Yahoos. They all have that Bud Adams mentality.

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), June 05, 2001.