Cle Plain Dealer:Consumer's counsel should be sacked for aiding 1st Energy

An Editorial from the Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1066469639215241.xml

Whose counsel?

10/19/03
Ohio Consumers' Counsel Rob Tongren's Web site touts him as "your residential utility advocate."

But Tongren hardly qualifies for such flattery. Ohio's so-called top consumer watchdog has made a series of outrageous decisions that smack of a breach of trust. The governing board of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, a state-sponsored position, should remove Tongren from his post.

To begin with, it is inexcusable that a much-sought-after confidential consultant's report that could have saved Ohioans billions in electricity costs was shredded in August. The $579,000 taxpayer-purchased report revealed that FirstEnergy Corp. had actually incurred $2 billion to $4 billion in "stranded cost" investments before deregulation, not the $8.7 billion in surcharges slapped on Ohioans. Ohioans took that hit during one of the state's harshest job-sapping recessions.

...snip....

And this isn't the first time that Tongren has bargained in the shadows with FirstEnergy. This summer, it was revealed that he was holding private meetings with the utility to determine future electricity rates. An infuriated Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, which bargains for electricity on behalf of 112 cities and up to 500,000 customers, protested that it had been locked out of the negotiations.

Tongren blamed FirstEnergy for barring NOPEC, but the real question is why any dedicated consumer advocate would consent to meetings that shoved NOPEC aside.

The latest episodes add to a pattern that shows Tongren to be a poor advocate for Ohio's consumers. He should be replaced - now.
....snip....

Previous article from PD as reported on DU: http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=1901

"...report revealed that FirstEnergy Corp. had actually incurred $2 billion to $4 billion in "stranded cost" investments before deregulation, not the $8.7 billion in surcharges slapped on Ohioans."

And what better way to divert "found" money to the top tiers of this country? The trickle down effect doesn't work unless you have a constant flood of money diverted to the wealthiest Americans. The more money you give them, the more their confidence levels increase until they finally invest in this country. So what if the smarter ones invest in off-shore tax-free corporations? It is the American way and we peons have no right to complain. Our taxes our reduced so now we have money to play the Republican's privatized pyramid game. And if the Republicans believe in this system, it has to be true.