My brother-in-law works for DWP (LA Dept of Water and Power, FYI: DWP chose
not to deregulate). According to him, one problem, besides what Cal
mentioned below, is the power plants down for maintenance. When the
industry was regulated, the power producers would coordinate when they
would take generating stations offline for repair and maintenance. With
deregulation, that cooperation was lost.
Another way to improve the bottom line is to sell off assets. I believe
that both SoCal Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric have sold off some of
their power plants (not sure however).
To add to the problem, I just heard that PG & E (which supplies mostly the
Northern California area) may not be able to meet natural gas demands.
Seems the gas supply companies won't sell them any gas because of their
credit situation. The snowball is picking up speed and getting much bigger.
-- Miles Harris III Simi Valley, CA 01 Silver Dakota CC Sport, 2.5L, 5speed 01 Gold Saturn SC1 (3 door coupe) 1.9L SOC, 4speed auto Profile: http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/PfCA4R1zO470w"Cal Hyer" <clhyer@hom.net> wrote in article <010801c0810b$2dcff280$05242ed8@hom.net>... > Ron, besides the Governor being an idiot, for what reason are you being > given in CA for this happening? The take we hear around here (S.E.) is > deregulation. > > While the utilities were regulated by the government and granted monopolies > for service areas, said utilities had to maintain certain levels of > performance. I would guess those performance factors would have included > reserves, maintenance, expansion plans, etc. As we moved into the era of > deregulation, utility companies had to compete for investors with the dot > coms and every one else. Where did you invest your money? Most folks went > for the quick buck. To compete, utilities had to show profits, quick > profits. The quick & easiest way to turn a quick profit is to delay > maintenance, shelve expansion, layoffs - in short, bleed the system dry > (sort of like DC...). It makes the P&L statement look good for the short > term but always backfires in the long run. > > You can say that it was caused by the harsh winter, however, that was just > the catalyst that brought it into the open today, rather than next summer > when the temperature hits 100. What do you all hear in California, or are > you now "incommunicado"? > Cal > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ronald Wong <ron-wong@home.com> > To: DML <dakota-truck@buffnet.net> > Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 4:38 PM > Subject: DML: What the H___ is wrong with this State???????? > > > > Southern Calif is going offline a little at a time beginning 5PM > > PST....because our governor is an idiot. Our education is going to hell > in > > a hand basket. Whatever happened to one of the richest states in the > > nation? This is a BUNCH of CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!! > > > > Ron > > 00 PB SLT QC 4X2 5.9 46RE 3.92 LSD > > For modifications see my DML Profile (URL follows) > > http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/Kw9pV1EkFeOYY > > > > > >
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