"The facts are in, and they prove that power producers have been misrepresenting the energy crisis as caused by increased consumer demand," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Power producers want Californians to believe that consumers need to pay higher rates to encourage the construction of new power plants to meet the alleged higher demand. Our analysis reveals their ploy to soak consumers."
With no increase in energy demand, a major contributor to the current crisis is that plants servicing California with 11,000 megawatts of capacity have been taken out of service for a variety of reasons, most undisclosed.
Now, power producers are inappropriately citing increased demand to justify building new plants, and they are hoping to speed the process by suspending California's environment-friendly standards and blocking the ability of communities to oppose new plants.
"The fact that demand in California is on par with previous years highlights power producers' attempts to circumvent environmental rules and local input on energy policy," Hauter said.
While power producers acknowledge that many other factors are affecting prices, including demand in the entire western U.S., they have focused on California energy demand when justifying their high prices