CUB and Environmental Allies Speak Out about Electric Vehicle Policy

Today the Portland Tribune published an opinion piece written by CUB and several of our environmental partners.  In the piece, Oregon’s Renewable Energy Guides State to Prosperity: Policies Plug into Electric Vehicle Future, we emphasize the importance of creating intelligent policies on electric vehicles, in order to maximize the environmental benefits of this exciting technology and address consumers’ concerns and needs.  We broadly describe several key policies, supporting renewable energy integration and consumer interests, and emphasize the need for public… Full Post >>

CUBConnects.org featured in the Oregonian – CUB Response!

On Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 the Oregonian published a great article about our new consumer education project CUBConnects.  In the article, “Website aims to demystify Oregon telecom pricing”, Mike Rogoway fairly represented the history of the project, the complexity of the information that we’ve collected and the usefulness of the website. 

One aspect of the project that wasn’t explained in the article is how we determine what plan pricing to display. We carefully selected a methodology that reflects… Full Post >>

Oregonian Runs CUB Opinion Editorial on MidAmerican Proposal

Yesterday, the Oregonian ran CUB Utility Analyst Lowrey Brown’s Op-Ed piece on the upcoming MidAmerican PacifiCorp merger proposal, “PacifiCorp acquisition shouldn’t be rubber-stamped.” The piece outlines some of CUB’s concerns regarding the proposed deal, emphasizing that, unlike other industries in which Warren Buffett has invested, utility customers do not have full freedom of the market: “[T]hey’re captive. Electricity… is a basic necessity of daily life.” The centrality and importance of this basic service is underlined by this past week’s devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi,… Full Post >>

Here we go again! MidAmerican Offers for PacifiCorp

More unexpected utility news hit the streets just this week. We had only begun to clear our offices of the mountains of data that went into Texas Pacific’s attempted purchase of PGE (which CUB helped to foil), when we heard that a new potential deal was on the table. Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. has reached an agreement with Scottish Power on an offer for PacifiCorp, Oregon’s second-largest electric utility company.

CUB’s staff attorney, Jason Eisdorfer, was quoted on the… Full Post >>