FRAMESHOP:FRAMESHOP: THE POWER IS IN THE FRAME

One of the biggest problems we face in America is greed from electrical companies who make huge profits in deregulated industries without reinvesting that money--our money--in an electrical grid that actually works.

As a result,  each summer more and more Americans die--that's right:  die--as a result of electrical system blackouts. These electrical companies thrive in companies that have been deregulated so much that there is nothing compelling them to reinvest their profits in a system that keeps up with normal population expansion. So, each month hundreds  of millions of Americans pay their electrical bills on time, and each month we all wonder if we will be the next victims of death by blackout.

Drive the debate! LINK to this FRAMESHOP article:

   http://jeffrey-feldman.typepad.com/frameshop/2006/08/frameshop_death.html

Death by blackout typically happens to the elderly who die from heat prostration when the blackout leaves them without air conditioning.

But it also has a less fatal version:  Financial crisis by blackout.

Last month when the blackouts hit Queens, NY, hundreds of business owners lost their temperature sensitive inventory, and thousands of Americans sat helplessly as their groceries rotted in their homes.

What is the problem?

The "High Temperatures" Frame

According to electical  companies, the problem is that Americans use too much electricity.

A London-based company called National Grid that sells electricity to customers in New York state tells us that if we are to avoid blackouts, we should use less electricity. This press release is from their web site:

Extreme Hot Weather Prompts Call For Second Day Of Reduced Electricity Use
Due to high demand caused by hot weather, National Grid is asking customers in the communities of Baldwinsville, Liverpool, East Syracuse, Dewitt, Onondaga, Fairmount, Camillus, the north and southwest sides of the city Syracuse and the west side of the city of Oswego to reduce all unnecessary electricity usage from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. today.

The request is being made to reduce demand on utility equipment in the areas listed. Electricity supply to the area is adequate, but heavy demand and high temperatures are taxing local equipment. Energy usage in a heat wave typically is at its highest in the afternoon and early evening hours, so any reduction in that demand helps equipment operate more efficiently.

National Grid thanked customers in affected areas for their response to a similar request yesterday.

“We greatly appreciate the cooperation and quick response our residential and business customers demonstrated in reducing unnecessary energy usage yesterday, it played a significant role in our ability to serve customers in affected areas,“ said William F. Edwards, National Grid’s president. “This is a compelling example of how early warning systems can make a difference and we strongly encourage customers to continue their response for one more day.”

Now, when I read a Press Release like this I am instantly suspicious.  Why is it, I wonder, that an electrical company should ask its customers--who pay for their product--to use less of that product at the exact time they need it most?

Why, I wonder, is the electrical company not investing its profits into new systems that work better? 

Interesting question.

So I kept reading on the National Grid web site to see if there was anything written about what this company was doing with its profits.   To my surprise, I found another Press Release on just that very topic:

National Grid Shareholders Approve Keyspan Acquisition
National Grid (LSE:NG.L NYSE:NGG), shareholders yesterday overwhelmingly approved the acquisition of KeySpan Corporation (NYSE: KSE) during the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting in London.

This approval is another step in the process of completing the transaction. On July 21, National Grid and KeySpan filed for approval of the merger with the New York State Public Service Commission, and in May the companies filed for approval from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The transaction gained clearance on its filings in compliance with federal antitrust and foreign investment requirements in July. A filing with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission is expected shortly.

 

I am certainly not an expert on utilities corporations, but it seems to me that National Grid is using its profits to buy more electrical companies to make more profits for its shareholders, rather than using its profits to invest in the systems it already owns--to make sure that more Americans do not suffer from death by blackout.

More profits, more blackouts, more deaths.

The Solution: Republicans Out, Lights On
As discussed in the last Frameshop post, the solution to this problem is not simply to send strong letters to your electric company.

The problem is just the cables and wires and 'grid' that brings electricity to our house.  Blackouts a product of the free market system foisted upon the American utilities industry through six solid years of Republicans controlling all three branches of government.

The 'free market' means that utlities companies are 'free' to do whatever they want without fear of government intervening to protect citizens. 

Ordinary consumers are not 'free' in the utilities free market because we do not have choice as to which company will supply us with electricity.  We get what we are given and rely on the government to make sure those companies do not take advantage of us.

The solution, therefore, is to vote Republicans out of office and vote in Democrats who will introduce the necessary market and system controls to prevent death by blackout.

Framing The Blackouts:  Consumer Habits vs. Corporate Responsibility
One of the great Progressive ideas is that the purpose of government is to protect people.  What we see in the Press Releases of electrical companies is an attempt to frame the blackouts as a product of the irresponsible behavior of citizens.  Certainly, we should all be doing much, much more to use much, much less energy.  We all need to do a better job at conservation.

But Progressives must reframe the blackouts in terms of corporate responsibility and shared consumer responsibility.

 

And to get there, we can use three basic points:

1. Republicans Out, Lights On.
2. No more death by blackout
3. Invest Corporate profits in a system that works

We can also use a simple phrase to fight back when ever utilities companies tell us that it is our fault when the lights go out:

Americans who work hard and play by the rules deserve an electrical system that works in all four seasons.

In this case, the power really is in the frame.

©  2006 Jeffrey Feldman