Secret deal at power auctions set electric prices

[Robbien]

<snip>

The people in the bidding room in Baltimore sat in isolation booths like contestants on "The Newlywed Game." The idea is that they can't see what the other bidders are doing. They submit their pitches to supply energy for Maryland, and the state's Public Service Commission picks the cheapest bid. "Each utility has a secure room the different parties will go to," said Wayne Harbaugh, BGE's manager for pricing and regulatory services. "The idea is to make sure it is a fair process, that no one really knows what the bids are until they leave the room. White smoke goes up, and the bids are done."

But now that the white smoke has cleared, customers are seeing red.

BGE, a subsidiary of Constellation, paid $730 million for 5,188 megawatts of electricity. But the public will never know who BGE bought its power from at those auctions. And that raises questions about Constellation and BGE working both sides of the auction under the same corporate umbrella.

Many customers want to know how much of a profit Constellation made off power sold to its corporate cousin. They also want to know how much cash Constellation stands to rake in if a proposed $11.5 billion merger between it and Florida-based FPL Group Inc., which owns another regulated distributor, goes through.

The secrecy has critics hopping mad, especially since BGE customers are getting smacked with a 72 percent increase on their bills this summer with no detailed explanation as to why.

<snip>

Ms. Riley also wanted to change the auction process to what New Jersey is doing, an experimental method considered the cutting edge in some electricity circles. There, if the commission thinks the bids are too high, it rejects them and holds another round. The most recent auction had 17 rounds. The first one four years ago had 73 rounds. Maryland had only one round.

"Auctions don't end," Ms. Riley said. "You keep them going until you get to the right price."

much much more:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/04_30-70/TOP

This is not just happening in Maryland!

[msongs]

1. any process using tax payer funding should be OPEN to all

and quasi private institutions that are regulated in ANY wany by a tax payer reprenting agency should also have complete
open records viewable on demand.

Msongs
www.msongs.com
batik & digital art
mugs and shirts

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Did Ahnold get Enron to pay back the citizens of Kayleeforhiah

yet?? Or did he let them slide as agreed upon prior to the ouster of that other guy.....

[skids]

4. Nah he just took 2 million in oil company contributions.

...what didjya expect?

[salin]

3. The Enron Legacy lives on.

[Jose Diablo]

5. Market manipulation is a given when the capitalists

are not under government oversight through regulation.

This deregulation the Republicans spout as the best way, is in truth the 'best' way from the capitalists perspective, not the customers or the workers perspective.

These prices we are seeing in energy are the result of a rigged game. Where is the DoJ? Well, I'd say with Gonzales at the head of the DoJ, the haves and the have-mores are getting what they paid for. That is Bu$h is paying back what he owes at our expense.

Edit: Look this isn't rocket science here. These people will get away with anything they are allowed to get away with. Why is anybody surprised and the high cost of energy?

[Spinzonner]

6. You just don't understand Lazy Unfair Capitalism

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. "72 percent increase" - that means a $100 cost is now $172.00?????

.
.
.

Tell me I read that wrong

BUT

I know that our base rate for hydro before all the "add-ons" (which more than doubles the cost) went from 5.0 cents per k/w hour to 5.8 - well, effective May 1, tomorrow.

doesn't sound like much right off the bat - but that's a 16% increase.!!

at 5.0 it worked out to 12 cents and over on a monthly bill depending on consumption

So - 1000 kw goes from 50 bucks to 120 bucks

NOW

it'll be 58 bucks climbing to 139.20