powertop segfaults when on battery, echos weird escape-strings

[Claus Strasburger]

when i try to start powertop-1.97-2 while running on AC power, it works like a charm.
once i unplug the AC or start it while being on battery, powertop crashes and bugs the terminal by sending weird escape strings.

$ sudo /usr/sbin/powertop >> tmp 2>&1; less tmp
Loaded 0 prior measurements
ESC[?1049hESC[1;24rESC(BESC[mESC[4lESC[?7hESC[39;49mESC[?1hESC=ESC[39;49mESC(BESC[mESC[HESC[2J
tmp (END)

it previously said it could not load saved_results & saved_parameters,
$ sudo touch /var/cache/powertop/saved_results.powertop
$ sudo touch /var/cache/powertop/saved_parameters.powertop
fixed that.

powertop-1.13 runs fine.

when i run it from a root shell directly, it clears the screen and then says:
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

i'm running precise beta 2, on a sony vaio vpccb27fx (i5, sandy bridge, i915)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: powertop 1.97-2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-22.35-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-22-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.0-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Apr 11 18:12:49 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Beta amd64 (20120328)
SourcePackage: powertop
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Brian (rephorm)]

Version 2.1 (from https://01.org/powertop/downloads) does not crash on battery power.

[Claus Strasburger (cfstras)]

also, everything starting with 1.97 beta 1 works.
why isn 't it updated in the repositories?