Re: CA Electric Deregulation - Tom's Comment

[Billinet at aol_com]

This is off topic but it might prove educational.

Tom Barr said, in part:

   << As a customer in CA that was raped by Enron and this crap
    about privatization of public utilities(that we owned) that are handed 
over
    for next to nothing to corporations(please look into this), I'm far more
    worried about what the federal government does with the billions in tax
    money and corporate insider deals than that >>

To set the record straight and to avoid spreading misinformation, let it be 
known that deregulation of the electric energy industry is alive and well in 
PA and other states.  It didn't work well in CA for a lot of reasons, a major 
one being that the elected government of that great state established too 
many rules that restricted the ability of the investor owned utilities to 
respond rapidly to changing market conditions, such as occurred during the 
power shortage in 2000/

Among other things, the rules required that participating companies sell  
their generating capacity, buy all of their electrrictiy from a state 
monopoly, CalPX, and thus not be able to enter into long term contracts, a 
standard way of reducing the effect og temporary supply shortages.  The 
companies also had rate caps established, which caused them to have to sell 
the electricity that they bought at a loss, forcing them into bankrupcy and 
increaing the reluctance of suppliers to do business with them.

Other causes were the failure of CA to build enough generating capacity to 
meet population growth and the overreliance of hydropower from the north to 
make up the difference.  

In the final analysis, the people of CA are responsible for electing as their 
representatives people who are beholden to  an outmoded, leftist philosophy.  
Not Enron, nor George Bush, the free enterprise system, or the trilaterists.  
As Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us".  

More about this can be read at the EIA site at

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/california/subsequentevents.html

Bill