“The California Energy Crisis”

Information You Can Use!

1. This site is a PBS special Frontline report entitled “Blackout – What Caused the Power Crisis and Who’s Profiting?” The site provides information about the energy crisis, timeline, and input from key players including Governor Davis.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/blackout/

“Blackout – A PBS Frontline Special,” PBS, 5 June 2001

2. The Flex Your Power site offers consumers information about energy saving tips, how you can conserve energy and save money. This site provides information for all energy users including residential, commercial, agricultural, and government. This site is a state government resource.

http://www.flexyourpower.ca.gov

Government, State of California, 2000

3. The CAISO (California Independent System Operator) site is an unbiased, not-for-profit corporation that provides electricity system information, such as, availability of power, rolling blackout status, and energy outlook for Summer 2002. This site is a state government resource.

http://www.caiso.com/

4. This site, provided by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, shows California electricity demand, availability of power available within the state, and related information—which is up to date. This site is a government resource.

http://energycrisis.lbl.gov/

Coughlin K., Meier A., Van Buskiri R., Environmental Energy Technologies Division,

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, May 2001

5. Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s website which offers customers information about financial assistance programs available to qualified customers, conservation incentives, residential rebate information, baseline allowance usage, teacher materials for Energenius program and lots more. This site is a company resource.

http://www.pge.com/

6. The TURN (The Utilities Reform Network) is a watchdog consumer non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of utility users. The site is designed to provide knowledge and education about utilities so consumers can demand lower rates and quality service. This site is a consumer resource.

http://www.turn.org/

7. This site is a report from the California Energy Commission on the electricity outlook from 2002 to 2012. The report focuses on the generation and demand outlook for the years to come. The report mainly focuses on the trends and policy issues within California. This site is a government resource.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/electricity_outlook/documents/index.html

“2002-2012 California Energy Outlook Report”, California Energy Commission, 2 February

2002

8. The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority site informs consumers about its role, which is to ensure there is a sufficient surplus of electricity so that California electricity consumers will never again face electricity shortages, that may result in outages and expensive prices. This site is a government resource.

http://www.capowerauthority.ca.gov/default.asp

Government, State of California, 2000

9. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) site provides information about alternative sources of energy, such as hydropower, bioenergy, hydrogen, wind, ocean, and solar. The site also offers information about energy efficient technologies in the transportation and building industry. This site is a government resource maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy.

http://www.eren.doe.gov/

Government, United States Federal, 2002

10. The Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights is a consumer watchdog organization. The site provides information to consumers about customer choice, fact sheets about deregulation and the energy crisis. This site is a consumer/advocate resource.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/

11. The California Energy Data center site provides information about energy data. Much of the information on this site has been collected from newspaper articles from The Los Angeles Times and The California Energy Commission.

http://www.physics.uci.edu/~silverma/power.html

Silverman D., University of California at Irvine, 2000

12. The Power to the People site is a consumer advocate group. The site provides suggestions to solving the California Crisis from a consumer perspective.

http://www.powertothepeople.org/

13. This site is UC Berkeley Haas School of Business site that provides a manifesto of the California Energy Crisis.

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/news/california_electricity_crisis.html

14. The RPPI (Reason Public Policy Institute) is a non-partisan think tank. This site provides information about customer choice and competition.

http://www.rppi.org/electricity/

15. The Energy Star site offers information to consumers about energy efficiency solutions, such as Energy Star products. I’m sure you are familiar with the Energy Star label on various household items, such as your computer monitor or refrigerator.

http://www.energystar.gov/default.shtml