Fortnightly Magazine - October 1 1998

Mail

I READ WITH INTEREST THE ARTICLE "TIME'S UP FOR PUBLIC Power," in the July 1 edition of your publication, written by Charles Bayless, the former CEO of Tucson Electric Power Co. (and now CEO of Illinova - Ed.). Particularly striking was the sidebar on page 34, which accuses the Western Area Power Administration, a power marketing administration within the Department of Energy, of hiding costs and inappropriately handling a number of financial issues such as depreciation. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this misinformation.

News Analysis

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY HAS OVERtaken the sweepstakes industry for the dubious title as The Most Complained About Industry.

From January through June of this year, the National Fraud Information Center received 2,071 cramming reports, plus hundreds more calls from consumers with a cramming problem but not enough details for the NFIC to file a formal report. The Federal Trade Commission defines cramming as unexplained charges on a consumer's telephone bill for services never ordered, authorized, received or used.

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