Brownouts In Our Future

What happens when you don't build more power plants? Get ready for spiking electricity rates, brownouts and even blackouts as demand soars

If you think runaway oil prices are upsetting, just wait for what's in store for electricity. Similar forces are in play. Demand is rising fast; supply is not. The cost to get coal and natural gas out of the ground is going up, and to that expense must be added the cost of the carbon permits that Congress and the presidential candidates are contemplating. Environmentalists are getting power plants scotched. China is sucking up energy. Leave such dynamics in play long enough, and price spikes in electricity follow. But that's just the beginning. We may be facing brownouts (voltage reductions) and even rolling blackouts.

By as early as next year our demand for electricity will exceed reliable supply in New England, Texas and the West and, by 2011, in New York and the mid-Atlantic region. A failure of a power plant, or a summer-afternoon surge in the load, could make for a blackout or brownout. "There really isn't any excess in the system," says Rick P. Sergel, chief executive at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). - Forbes

That'll suck.

I Think We're In Recession, No?

The jobless rate soared to 5.5% in May from 5% a month earlier, the highest level since late 2004 and the biggest jump in more than two decades. Economists had expected a rise to only 5.1%.

Oil, meanwhile, returned to record territory with a vengeance after an analyst predicted that crude would hit the $150-a-barrel mark by July 4. Crude futures rocketed up $10.75 to settle at $138.54 a barrel, exceeding the record price set about two weeks ago. It was the biggest one-day rise in dollar terms in the New York Mercantile Exchange's history.

Put it all together, and worries resurfaced that consumers would buckle from the double whammy of rising unemployment and soaring gasoline prices. - Los Angeles Times

Corn For Ethanol = No Good

ROME -- Outside the U.N. emergency summit on food here, protesters dressed as ears of corn. Inside, Bush administration officials Wednesday found themselves on the defensive on a wide range of U.S. policies, from biofuel production to genetic engineering and subsidies.

Delegates clashed during the second day of the three-day meeting over how much blame can be assigned to biofuels for the meteoric rise in food prices. The U.S. is an enthusiastic supporter of the robust and heavily subsidized biofuel industry, with plans to allocate about a quarter of its corn crop to the lucrative production of ethanol. - Los Angeles Times

With the current situation of rising food prices, is it at all ethical for the U.S to be allocating 25% of our corn resource to ethanol? Doubt it.

The $27,028 Ticket

The nation may be struggling with soaring fuel prices, high food bills and rising home foreclosures, but when it comes to the revival of the celebrated Lakers-Celtics matchup in the NBA championship series after 21 years, all economic indicators are up. Ticket prices and merchandise revenue have risen steadily through this postseason, as have television ratings and online hits, with an even bigger jump anticipated for the Finals.

StubHub, an online ticket service, is offering the Father's Day special with up to eight individual seats available at the $27,028 price. For a group, a 44-person suite is being offered for $51,431. - Los Angeles Times

This is grossly sickening. Sorry for the redundancy.

UN Freaking Over High Prices

Rome—World rice prices that have tripled in Asia over the course of the year may come down but overall food prices will remain high for years to come, leaving millions more hungry, a U.N. food agency warned Thursday.

High oil prices, growing demand, flawed trade policies, panic buying and speculation have sent food prices soaring worldwide, trigging protests from Africa to Asia and raising fears that millions more suffer malnutrition.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of workers in Senegal -- from teachers to tax officials, fishery and port workers -- stayed home as part of a strike staged by unions to protest the spiraling cost of rice, fuel and other basic goods.

Surging food prices have also sparked riots in Haiti and fed worries about supplies in the Philippines. - Associated Press

Looting is imminent.