Und hier mail 3 zur Liberalisierung der Energie-Märkte in Nord-
Amerika
----------------------

From:           Ellen Gould 
Date sent:      Mon, 01 Jan 2001 21:45:17 -0800
Subject:        [GATSCrit] GATS and the US position on energy

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"And what the Agreement on Internal Trade is hinting at the WTO
agreement on
services - the GATS - will make irreversible. The US
released its services negotiating position on energy on
December 21st.  It is clear that the Americans intend to
press with all their might for new WTO rules over energy.
They are proposing: 'Non-discriminatory third-party access
to and interconnection with energy networks and grids,
where they are dominated by government entities or
dominant suppliers.' In other words, the California model
applied worldwide."

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20001226
/417390.h
tml

The Financial Post
December 26, 2000
By Murray Dobbin

The energy crisis: Ideology trumps common sense

There is a delicious free trade irony in the energy
deregulation fiascos unfolding in California and Alberta -
especially in the stunned disbelief coming from business.
Here we have Jayson Myers, chief economist for the
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(CMEA) on Alberta's sky-rocketing natural gas prices: "I
think it's a major crisis. If companies have to cut costs,
there will be an impact on their employment."

Earth to Mr Myers: What did you think the FTA was about?

The Canada-US free trade agreement (FTA) handed the
United States guaranteed access to Canadian oil and gas.
During the 1988 election the CMEA was one of the most
aggressive promoters of the agreement  -- a deal which
virtually wrote in stone that Canadian prices for natural gas
would be determined by peak American demand.

But, of course, it doesn't stop there -- it's the nature of
ideology that the more you swallow the hungrier you get.
Having given the US guaranteed access to our oil and gas
(we can't reduce exports to increase domestic supply or
use differential pricing) the Canadian government and the
provinces are hell bent on giving up all regulatory influence
over electricity prices through massive deregulation.

In California, the North American pioneer in electricity
deregulation, prices have actually tripled in many areas and
doubled in most, prompting the politicians to scamble for
their political lives and put a cap on prices. This desperate
effort to shut the barn door after the horses have escaped
has brought once powerful corporations to the brink of
bankruptcy:  Pacific Gas and Electric and Edison face the
prospect of eating $8 billion in energy costs they can't pass
on to consumers.

Kaiser Aluminum has shut its two US smelters because
they can make more money by selling their electricity, and
several fertilizer companies have shut down plants. Major
shortages of those products are predicted for next year.

Ralph Klein is having night sweats over his political future,
too, as his deregulation experiment careens out of control.
The Alberta Power Pool auction of electricity in early
December pushed generation prices from $40 per
megawatt hour to more than $130. The Industrial Power
Consumers Association are in full panic mode: "For some
of my members it is catastrophic," said president  Dan
Macnamara. "These new price levels are downright scary."

Ontario's move to a deregulated market and the
dismantling of Ontario Hydro has prompted power
generators and marketers to talk openly about getting
substantially higher prices in adjacent American
jurisdictions. This will inevitably result in higher prices in
Ontario.

It is a neo-liberal article of faith that deregulation increases
"choice" and reduces prices. In practice it is doing neither,
but when the medicine fails, the prescription is to give even
stronger medicine.

Canadian governments are thus pursuing even more
deregulation through more trade deals. First, there is the
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), and then there is the
services negotiations at the WTO which would make global
energy deregulation literally irreversible.

AIT negotiators will present provincial trade ministers with
an energy chapter in February next year. If agreed to, it will
most likely lead to what is called "retail wheeling" - in effect
creating electricity spot markets in every province and a
virtual futures' market for  electricity speculators. This is a
formula for wild price volatility and would make the goal of
long term price stability virtually unachievable.

And what the AIT is hinting at the WTO agreement on
services - the GATS - will make irreversible. The US
released its services negotiating position on energy on
December 21st.  It is clear that the Americans intend to
press with all their might for new WTO rules over energy.
They are proposing: "Non-discriminatory third-party access
to and interconnection with energy networks and grids,
where they are dominated by government entities or
dominant suppliers." In other words, the California model
applied worldwide.

This little holiday announcement is like the Grinch who
stole Christmas for hard-pressed Californians threatened
with the potential collapse of their entire electrical system.
Yet with no appreciation of the irony involved, the US
claims that this new energy regime will make energy
supplies "reliable" and "...benefit residential consumers and
social services, as well as employment .."

Canada is apparently supporting the US position.

Electricity and gas are not just products like toasters and
light bulbs. They are critical elements in the functioning of
the economy. If you list all the factors that contribute to
competitiveness, and to economic stability, predictable
energy prices rank high on the list. Actively pursuing
policies that create price volatility is ideology run amok.
Imagine interest rates being decided not by the Bank of
Canada, but by picking the rate from a hat every two
weeks.

The CMEA's Mr. Myers told me he wasn't familiar with the
GATS energy negotiations. Maybe he should pick up the
phone and call Canada's negotiators -- before it's too late.