Gas Deregulation Fiasco
                  Editorial by Jeff Goolsby, Editor

      The Enron Corporation, the main promoter of deregulation of gas and electricity, bankruptcy filing and scams now coming to light is causing the pieces to be exposed and falling into place.  The Enron Corporation was bushwhacking stockholders and everyone buying buying gas and electricity from them
      It is now clear that they were filing phony profit and loss statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) while the top executives were fleecing the flock.
      According to news reports, when Lou L. Pai was appointed chairman of NewPower Corporation, a subsidiary of Enron Corporation, now selling gas in Metro Atlanta, Enron gave Mr. Pai 2,000,000 shares of Enron stock and he acquired another 3,000,000 shares, probably direct from Enron at a fraction of the market price at the time.  Immediately thereafter, Mr. Pai started selling his newly acquired stock reaping $353,700,000 from unwitting stock buyers.  He is no longer chairman of NewPower Corporation.
      Obviously, Enron was primarily in the business of printing money in the guise of stock shares for their top executives and cronies.  The holders of the phony stock then sold their phony stock to unwitting stock buyers converting their phony stock into real money.  News reports state that President Thief Bush's political campaigns have benefited by more than $500,000 from Enron.
      Considering that the deregulation of gas and electricity by politicians in numerous states by causing double overhead and double profits and the politicians claiming that by doubling the cost would reduce the price of gas and electricity, I have to wonder how many of them were also profiting in the fleecing of thousands of stock buyers and millions of American citizen gas and electricity buyers.
      There is no way that a knowledgeable lawmaker could have really believed that the scam that Enron was pulling was good for their constituents.  It does not take a math expert to understand that when a second company is added to the overhead and profit structure of a utility that is already being produced by one company, the cost is increased and the price has to be increased.  I am confidant that Atlanta Gas Light Company is still making as much profit as they were before the extra companies' overhead and profit were added on top of their price.
      Thousands of people in Georgia are being ripped off with exploding gas price increases.  The gas deregulation that was loaded on the backs of Georgians was one of the dumbest political actions I have seen in a long time.  Either the politicians who are responsible for this fiasco do not understand business economics or were deliberately ripping off Georgia citizens.
      According to news articles, gas producers and providers have already gouged residents in California to the tune of 6.6 billion dollars beyond their previous prices.  At one point electricity appeared to be in the process of doubling, tripling, and quadrupling in California.  The same price gouging is most likely being practiced in other states that have enacted the same type deregulation fiasco as California's electricity and gas, plus Georgia's gas deregulation fiasco.
      Anyone with any business sense knows that when you add an additional overhead markup and additional profit markup to any product, the price has to increase to include this extra cost.  We were deceptively told that adding this extra cost would reduce our cost for gas.  Perhaps we need to replace some politicians and get replacements who understand business economics and will represent all of the people instead of the rich few.
      The only sensible way to deregulate gas, or any monopoly such as electricity, etc., is to allow competitive facilities to be installed and deregulate in coordination with the availability of the competitive product.  Competitive gas or electricity, etc., companies should have been allowed to run gas, electricity, etc., lines into each area to deregulate, then commence offering gas, electricity, etc., at competitive or lower prices.  This would have had a price lowering effect if a supply of gas, etc., was available.
      As an example, TV cable lines have the capability of furnishing telephone service and TV cable companies are in position to compete with local telephone monopolies using their TV cable lines.   Recently, AT&T purchased Media One's Atlanta cable service and renamed it AT&T Broadband.  AT&T Broadband is now providing phone service in Metro Atlanta on the same streets alongside Bellsouth at a lower price than Bellsouth.
      Gas and electricity must be deregulated in the same manner as cable TV and telephone lines but not with a double profit markup and double overhead markup as gas deregulation is currently being done in Georgia, and gas and electricity in California.
      Contact your State Representatives and State Senator and demand that the current deregulation fiasco be modified to allow competing gas and electric companies to run their own supply lines on the same streets as the monopoly gas and electric companies.  The regulated prices should be re-instated until adequate supply lines are in place to produce realistic competition.
      They would then start offering competitive prices as AT&T has done with their newly acquired TV cable lines, unless they engage in illegal price fixing.  This would correct the problem unless the gas and electric producers rip us off by creating artificial shortages.  With competition, electricity and gas producers would increase their production facilities as needed.
      We had plenty of gas during cold weather so therefore there was no shortage of gas as claimed.   Apparently, the gas producers took advantage of the obviously unworkable deregulation fiasco and claimed a gas shortage to justify raising their prices, a rip-off.
      I believe that a Federal investigation should be made immediately to determine if illegal price fixing was involved.  If price fixing is proven to be involved, the participants would owe billions of dollars in refunds to American gas and electricity customers.  However, with Republicans in full control of the House of Representatives in Washington and Bushwhacker in the White House, it will take extra letter writing effort to get an investigation of the natural gas and electricity price gouging.
      All voters should immediately demand that their state and Federal lawmakers should repeal the deregulation laws and return the utilities back to the prior regulation process until competitive utilities lines can be installed so that actual competition can keep prices realistic.  The regulatory commissions should continue making sure that utility prices are legitimate and fair instead of the price gouging that occurred with the Enron deregulation fiasco.
      You should write letters to you representatives and senators making these demands.  See below for assistance in getting addresses for your letters.