[van-discuss] Hydro sell off, Accenture, Calpine,and a whole host of vultures

[Greg Simmons]

Folks interested in what the corporate looting of BC Hydro would mean
generally for the consumers, the environment, and the economy also might
want to check out this report (put out by Sierra Legal Defence Fund and BC
Citizens for Public Power):

www.sierralegal.org/reports/Power_Grab.pdf

(Full disclosure: I'm a co-author.)

Greg Simmons


----- Original Message -----
From: "ernie yacub" <yacinfo at mars.ark.com>
To: "subverts" <subverts at yahoogroups.com>; <van-discuss at resist.ca>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2002 9:33 AM
Subject: [van-discuss] Hydro sell off, Accenture, Calpine,and a whole host
of vultures


> This is an excellent analysis of the whole privatization scheme - note
> references to water, highways, etc.  Rember the California energy scams?
> They are coming our way.
>
> ernie
>
> From: "Sandy Heslop" <sandyh at telus.net
> Subject: Fw: hydro rates to jump 30-60% with American take-over
> Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 17:58:02 -0700
>
> ". . .when market prices are in effect, residential consumers of
electricity
> will need to pay $84/Mwh or 30 per cent more than the $65/Mwh they pay
> today." Industrial rates are expected to jump by 60 per cent. ...Do you
> realize that once this deal is done NAFTA kicks in and it will be illegal
for
> BC citizens to recieve preferrential energy rates over, say, California?
...
> I've been corresponding with the San Francisco Assistant Attorney. Here's
her
> message for you, British Columbia: "You just cannot afford to deregulate
your
> electrical utilities."
>
> I URGE ALL OF YOU......please take the time to read this, understand what
is
> happening, print it off and get it out to as many as you can! This is
> extremely important if we are to stop the sell off our most precious
> resource! I am upset and angry......where is everyone??
>
> Yours June
>
> Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 5:38 PM Subject: Re: B.C. HYDRO
PRIVATIZATION
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm going to make this as brief and succinct as I possibly can (to leave
you
> enough time to explore the hyperlinks) but bear with me because this is a
> complex story, and, may I say, one of the most important facing British
> Columbians today. If you care about the future of this province, please
read
> on.
>
> Take time to click the links in this text -- remembering that when you
launch
> from this e-mail you'll need to retrieve it from your lower taskbar and
> clicking subsequent links will require re-launching your browser from the
> same bar.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> So, to the point . . . I've recieved the forwarded e-mail (see the end of
> this thread) several times over the last week, which is a good thing. I'm
> glad to see the message it contains finally spreading through the
mainstream.
>
> The struggle to alert British Columbians to this dangerous agenda has been
a
> long haul. For myself it has consumed the last 6 months of my life
(donations
> gratefully accepted ;-] ). The compliant corporate press will not join the
> dots to tell the whole story.
>
> You may be aware that Nanaimo is the proposed site of a gas fired power
plant
> -- VIGP. The Nanaimo Citizens Organizing Committee, like the Port Alberni
> volunteer group who defeated the last attempt in their town, have waged a
> valiant battle to stop this abomination. They are up against a greater
threat
> here: a city council ideologically on board and the zoning at Duke Point
is
> in place.
>
> Here's the deal: BC Hydro partnered with two American companies -- Calpine
> Power Holdings and Williams Cos. -- to build the plant. They claim the
plants
> (one already built at Campbell River, others planned) are needed to meet
> increased energy demand. Present subsea cables that Hydro claim are at the
> end of their useful life, will be decommissioned.
>
> Williams and Calpine were at the absolute centre of the California
> deregulation storm. They calmly walked away with a fortune while
California
> consumers remortgaged their homes and filed for bankrupcy in response to
> electricity rates that jumped, in some cases, up to 3500%! -- no I didn't
hit
> the wrong keys.
>
> BC Hydro won't say why Calpine pulled out of the VIGP deal recently, but
I'd
> like to think it was due in part to my relentless campaign to uncover
their
> past record. In California, during the worst of the "crisis" of 2000,
> Calpine's profits soared 240%, Williams' by 276%. Williams is still the
> pipeline (GSX) part of the plan, but their stock price is in freefall and
> analysts are betting they'll soon pull out, as well.
>
> Calpine earned 23% of total revenue from Enron first 2/3 of last year and
> shared Enron's accountant/consultant, the infamous Arthur Andersen.
>
> We now know that the California crisis was cynically manufactured by the
> companies who jumped in to take over California's utilities upon
deregulation
> in 1996. The recently uncovered Enron memos (pdf) have confirmed as
much --
> and those memos implicated Powerex in price-gouging Californians. Powerex
is
> the marketing arm of -- you guessed it -- BC Hydro.
>
> As for the e-mail that is circulating, I can't comment on "insider"
rumours
> from Hydro's executive office, but I can give you latest reliable news on
the
> privatization front.
>
> The plan is to split Hydro into several seperate units, which will be
> deregulated and sold off. I can't go into exhausting detail here. I
suggest
> you refer to resources like the Citizens for public Power Website and
> download the excellent reports there. Be sure you have the (free) Acrobat
> reader for pdf files installed.
>
> The first stage of BC Hydro deregulation and privatization is well under
way.
> Again, I can't comment on the e-mail that's circulating and I think the
> Columbia River dam story is a red herring, but here's what I know to be
fact:
> The first parts of our public utility to be put on the block are Customer
> Services, Westech Information Systems Inc., and Fleet Services.
>
> The only corporation in the running is the American firm Accenture. They
> are/were the consulting arm of ARTHUR ANDERSEN that split off under a new
> name in January as the Enron scandal erupted. The Accenture/Hydro contract
> was supposed to see ink at the end of May. As the dealmakers' appetite
grew,
> so did the scope of the aquisition and finalization was pushed to the end
of
> June. My source told me this morning that the handshake has now been
pushed
> to the end of July.
>
> Accenture has just partnered with a division of Halliburton, the oil & gas
> infrastructure behemoth formerly headed by US Vice-prez Dick Cheney (who
> cooked up the present insane -- though perfectly brilliant -- US energy
> policy scam with Enron head criminal Ken Lay). Halliburton (in cahoots
with
> Arthur Andersen, again!) is now the subject of an SEC fraud investigation
and
> their stock price has plunged to a new low of $8.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Let's also look at how this fraud unfolded in England during the
1980-90's.
> As Maggie Thatcher's energy minister, Lord Wakeham oversaw the
deregulation
> of Britain's energy utilities. He approved Enron's Teeside power station.
He
> then went on to numerous energy industry boards, including the audit
> committee at Enron! note: he was head weasel in Enron's foray into water
> privatization as boardmember of a bank advising on the takeover of Wessex
> Water.
>
> (Note that Gordon Campbell told Vancouver Sun's editorial board (I think
it
> was) a week or so ago that BC'rs can't expect water to be free. Don't say
he
> [and I] didn't warn you!)
>
> Which brings us to BC Hydro boss Larry Bell. Also chair of B.C. Hydro from
> 1987 to 1991, you'll remember he handed BC Gas to the private sector
during
> the Social Credit administration. The BC Gas buzzard (that aquired
Vancouver
> Island's Centra) is now circling over part of Hydro's
> soon-to-be-deregulated-distribution system. Bell was key advisor to the
B.C.
> Liberal Party's transition team
>
> See how this stuff works?
>
> What's in store? Well, I encourage everyone to read the government's own
task
> force's interim report -- a pdf file. Keep in mind that the final report
was
> submitted in March, but the government has been sitting on it and won't
> release it until the fall. It is rumoured to be even more ludicrous than
the
> prelim. If you don't want to wade through the 89 pages, here's the quote
you
> need: ". . .when market prices are in effect, residential consumers of
> electricity will need to pay $84/Mwh or 30 per cent more than the $65/Mwh
> they pay today." Industrial rates are expected to jump by 60 per cent.
This,
> of course, doesn't take into consideration what effect volatile fossil
fuel
> markets (or craven manipulation of them) will do after BC's energy future
has
> been hijacked by the hydrocarbon industry. And don't get me started on the
> effect global warming (which these maniacs deny) will have on my
> grandchilderen's lives.
>
> The industry relationships are complex to follow for those lacking an
> obsessive-compulsive desire for transparency. But, that's OK, I'm not on
> Prozac yet. Consider this: In what was described by Alaskan industry
watchers
> as the "first US raid on Canadian pipeline infrastructure" Houston-based
Duke
> energy gobbled up Vancouver's Westcoast Energy this spring for $8.5
billion.
> Westcoast was behind the Campbell River plant. Duke is one of the
companies
> now cited in the massive lawsuits unfolding in California courts. They
> charged California providers $3800 a megawat hour, in one case, and
> deliberately shut down generators to cause brownouts. Californians want
their
> money back. These pirates are in deep *%@&!. Where are they gonna get
their
> loot next? I've been corresponding with the San Francisco Assistant
Attorney.
> Here's her message for you, British Columbia: "You just cannot afford to
> deregulate your electrical utilities."
>
> The MO of the privatization mobsters is speed and stealth -- that and a
> fanatical devotion to Sir Roger Douglas. One only has to read the Liberal
> Party bible -- Douglas's Unfinished Business -- to understand the agenda.
The
> neoLiberals have appointed Erik Westergaard to their privatization squad,
who
> played a key role in the disasterous (though, again, a bonanza for the
energy
> pirates) deregulation of New Zealand energy utilities in the Sir jolly
> Roger-era free market free-for-all.
>
> (note: When I told a Kiwi anti-water privatization campaigner at a water
> conference last year that our government were Douglas cultists, she
answered:
> "Oh dear, you're getting Rogered, are you?")
>
> Our best defense against this international criminal conspiracy is to
bring
> people to their door shine a light into their den.
>
> You can help in this daunting task by sharing this with all your
> correspondents and telling this story over your back fence and at summer
> barbecues.
>
> But, ultimately, talk without action, as they say, = 0. I have my doubts
that
> Gordon Campbell knows about, or gives a toss about an online petition. It
is
> imperative to see that neoliberal (market fundamentalist) ideology is akin
to
> a death cult. The bond among thieves is thicker than blood because if one
> goes down hard, they know they all do.
>
> We are seeing the pox at the centre of neoliberalism is nowspreading
through
> the ranks very quickly, from Enron to WorldCom to Martha Stewart. And
that's
> a good thing. . . unless you're a stockholder.
>
> All British Columbians are stockholders in BC Hydro. We all paid into it
and
> have reaped untold benefits as its stakeholders. There are Orwellian code
> words you should be familiar with, such as P3's (public private
partnerships)
> which translated means: You give me the house that you spent your life
paying
> for so I can speculate on it on the open market while you rent it from us
(at
> "market" value) -- oh, and by the way. . . you take care of
maintenance.The
> simple agenda here is this: The international criminal mobsters extorting
the
> commons are determined to get their hands into the wallets of BC
consumers.
> BC Hydro presently makes them look bad with its low energy prices (can you
> image how pissed this makes Ralph Kline with his "Alberta Advantage?")
Hydro
> bosses have already had a taste of the deregulation windfall with its
foray
> into California.
>
> We have the chance to bring these Mafioso down while they are off balance.
> But we don't have long. Do you realize that once this deal is done NAFTA
> kicks in and it will be illegal for BC citizens to recieve preferrential
> energy rates over, say, California?
>
> How will you and your family defend your property against these renegades?
> You can resist this fraud by exercising your most important right, the
right
> to speak out. Write letters to and/or phone Campbell and his energy
minister
> Richard Neufeld directly. Let them know you're on to their game and are
> watching their every move. I'm not sure signing an online petition will do
> much. Here's the action page from Citizens for Public Power, a better
> resource.
>
> If you have the time, you could march down to your local MLA's office and.
.
> . well I'll leave that up to your own creativity.
>
> I've barely skimmed the scum off the surface of this cesspool, (please
make
> use of the hypertext links) but, in conclusion, BC Hydro propagandists and
> the Liberal government are using exactly the same MO as in other
> jurisdictions -- threatening brownouts, and promising market magic -- to
> wrest a priceless public asset from its owners, the people of BC. The
forces
> behind this are predominantly fossil fuel industry mobsters and their
hired
> "government" functionaries. As in the Bush/Cheney theft of the US
elections,
> energy companies made sure they elected their friends with (a declared)
> $290,970 since 1996 to Liberal coffers. Top donors include Centra Gas Inc.
at
> $50,000, BC Gas at $37,837 and Pancanadian Petroleum at $27,000. Westcoast
> ponied up $27,500.
>
> If you want to be kept up to date on this issue. . . or don't, respond via
> e-mail.
>
> In solidarity, Raymond
>
> PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL ON YOUR LISTS AND IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK WHO LOVE
> THIS PROVINCE.
>
> http://members.shaw.ca/NCOC/home.html
>
> http://www.sqwalk.com/home.htm
>
> http://www.handsoffhydro.com/
>
> http://www.citizensforpublicpower.ca/index.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> van-discuss mailing list
> van-discuss at resist.ca
> http://resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/van-discuss