Ethics in the Energy Industry essays

Ethics in the Energy Industry essays The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical issues faced by the energy industry before, during, and after the deregulation of the energy market in California. Part one will explain the ethical issues and how they came about. Part two will look at how several of the players in this industry have addressed these issues. In part three, I will critique the appropriateness of how the issues were addressed. In my analysis of these issues, I will focus on the following measurements: whether the industries initial approach to the issue was appropriate, whether the industry followed through appropriately as the issue developed; whether it industry has taken the necessary steps to avoid similar problems in the future. The story of the California energy crisis is the story of a deregulation nightmare made worse by the unethical actions of several very powerful companies. This story is fraught with perils such as planning lapses, serious policy blunders, and warnings that came too late. The overall effects of the energy crisis in California have been devastating. Johnson (2001) reported that the experiment in deregulation has come at a staggering cost: $40 billion. That number includes the $23 billion already paid by customers when rates were frozen at artificially high levels, and the $7.5 billion in bonds financing consumers' own rate reduction. (p. 1A) The central issue is whether the major players in the California energy market acted ethically before, during, and after the deregulation of that market. Shaw and Barry (2004) define business ethics as the study of what constitutes right and wrong, or good and bad, human conduct in a business context (Shaw The road ...