Published Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Journalists get lesson on covering energy crisis
BY JEWEL GOPWANI
ASNE Reporter
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| James Sweeney, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research’s Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment program, spoke Tuesday to newspaper editors on the current energy crisis in California and its significance to the nationwide problem. (WILLIE J. ALLEN/ASNE REPORTER) |
The rolling blackouts plaguing California should provide a cautionary lesson not only for other states but also for the editors and reporters covering regional energy problems, James Sweeney, a Stanford University professor, said at the ASNE convention Tuesday.
“When you’re a reporter on the energy problem, the economic forces dominate (news stories),” through issues of supply and demand, and their effect on how much we pay for electricity, said Mr. Sweeney, a professor of management science and engineering. “The reporter better get the economic forces right.”
His presentation was sponsored by the Foundation for American Communications, which runs programs for journalists on such topics as energy, immigration and economics.
“The crisis is real, and it’s caused by a combination of legitimate (energy) shortages (and) bad public policy that has stopped markets from adjusting,” Mr. Sweeney said.
In covering energy, he said editors and reporters should pay attention to
- Economics: How do utility companies charge their customers? The most effective way of avoiding an energy crisis, he said, is for the utilities to establish peak hours and to charge more during that time.
- Legislation: How does the state government regulate the utility companies? How extensive are its price controls? Stricter regulation, he said, tends to keep the energy market from correcting itself.
- Contracts: How long are the contracts between the government and the utility companies in effect? Long-term contracts, he argued, can provide for greater stability – as long as energy prices are not as strictly regulated as they are in California.
Mr. Sweeney argued that the energy market in California failed to adjust to market forces because of the state’s regulation on the industry. Even as the state’s energy supply fell, state regulations prevented the cost of energy from rising, and consumer demand didn’t fall accordingly, he said.
California’s state government had warnings of the current crisis and failed to respond to them, he said. “We see a classic case of information being available (about) an energy problem in the hands of the government and legislature -- and no action taken until it is too late,” he said.
Karen Palmer, a scholar at Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C., research firm on energy and the environment, said that regions expecting an extremely hot summer could experience power crises.
And that concerned some of the 20 journalists who attended the presentation. “There’s a saying that what happens in California today will happen in Florida later,” said Paul Tash, editor and publisher of the St. Petersburg Times.
Mr. Tash said he would like his newspaper to cover more effectively changes in the energy industry, changes that include newly built power plants in Florida. He also said he’s interested in covering how Florida can supplement its energy supply with the help of other states that aren’t in crisis.
Michele McLellan, special projects editor at The Oregonian, said Mr. Sweeney’s information gave her a good sense of the economics behind an energy crisis. “We’re expecting a drought this summer,” she said, and that’s dangerous, because Oregon’s power depends on its dams and water supply.
The presentation was important, she said, because “in virtually any issue covering numbers, journalists tend to fall short.”
