A coalition of consumer groups and bulk power buyers unveiled the Campaign for Fair Electric Rates today. Their Web site doesn't appear to be working. But here are some excerpts from the press release. Members include the American Public Power Association, the Electricity Consumers Resource Council and the Consumer Federation of America.

The campaign will educate consumers, businesses and the media on the failures of restructured electricity markets; and organize the public to contact their senators and representatives. The campaign is urging Congress to request that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) investigate the wholesale electricity markets and take action to protect consumers.

Participants in the campaign are united in their view that the restructuring of the wholesale electricity markets has not produced promised benefits and instead has harmed consumers and the economy. Fundamental changes made to the wholesale electricity markets have not produced competition; instead they have created exorbitant profits for many companies that generate electricity, excessively high electricity rates for consumers and insufficient investment in new power plants and transmission lines.

Despite these problems, the FERC, the federal agency with the responsibility to protect consumers, continues to ignore repeated calls from consumers and businesses to investigate these markets.