F. CARTER SMITH / BLOOMBERG / GETTY IMAGES
NOTE: Popular Resistance has been protesting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) through its actions with Beyond Extreme Energy and We Are Cove Point. Everyone we talk to, including legislators, agrees that the FERC works for the oil and gas industry and not for the people. FERC staff admits that FERC is “not in the habit of denying permits” even though some of the projects they permit are based on false information and are dangerous to the health and safety of communities.
In the article below, David Cay Johnston exposes FERC chair Cheryl LaFleur for her ties to industry and her failure to protect the public. He calls for her to be fired. LaFleur will step down as chair in May but will remain on the Commission. We believe that she should go too and that the FERC should be restructured to serve and be accountable to the people.
If you agree, join us in May when we return to the FERC for 9 days of protest. Click here to register. -M. Flowers
Another Obama Regulator Refuses to Regulate
Hardly anyone has heard of Cheryl LaFleur, but she is one of America’s most powerful government officials, entrusted with vast authority to oversee the electricity, oil and natural gas industries. She chairs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a tiny government agency with only 1,500 employees. Its budget is covered not by taxpayers but by the industries it regulates.
Her sworn duties include making sure charges for electricity are always just and reasonable. That means suppliers should be reasonably compensated and customers should pay reasonable prices. But she has consistently ignored this responsibility. When presented with serial indicators of unjust prices, she puts on a blindfold and sits on her hands.
In a Feb. 18 letter to six senators and 13 representatives, LaFleur demonstrated beyond any doubt her fealty to electricity companies and disregard for consumers. The 19 legislators expressed alarm over the quadrupling of prices paid just to have power plants available in New England to supply electricity during peak times. The price was $1 billion and change five years ago. Last month’s auction hit $4 billion and would have been much higher but for price caps.
LaFleur, a Harvard educated lawyer, politely thanked the lawmakers for writing her about their concerns. She then told them that nothing could be done.