Geez guys - perhaps there are two sides to each story! Isn't Grey running for reelection - sure to tell all then - right? Seems like one side of the idiots said no - then the other side of the idiots said why? Enjoy yourselves out there!
Reuters Company News
Duke Energy hits back at Calif. energy report
Thursday September 26, 7:41 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Duke Energy Corp., firing the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between power generators and California, rejected a recent state report that accused five generating companies of creating artificial power shortages during the height of the California energy crisis.
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Duke (NYSE:DUK - News), in a letter to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) head Loretta Lynch, said it rejected claims that it failed to operate its power plants at full capacity.
The company claimed it generated 45 percent more power during the 2000-2001 state energy crisis than the average over the past 10 years.
Duke also said unplanned outages at its plants during the crisis were 40 percent less than during the past decade.
In its report last week, the CPUC said that if Duke and four other generating companies had operated their power plants at full capacity, Southern Californians could have avoided all four days of rolling blackouts in 2001 and Northern Californians could have escaped 65 percent of their blackouts.
Duke said the CPUC report ignored the role of the California Independent System Operator in directing electricity output from its power plants.
The California ISO, which oversees operations on most of the state's power grid, normally orders power plant output to maintain the safety and reliability of the power grid.
Duke said the ISO reduced output from its power plants by about 600 megawatts on May 8, 2001, and claimed the CPUC ignored this in its report.
The CPUC's investigation, which is continuing, examined data on power production, plant outages, bidding behavior of generators and power transmission during the 38 days of blackouts and service cuts from November 2000 through May 2001.
Duke also said the CPUC report overstated the amount of electricity the company could produce at its California plants by 30 megawatts.
The other companies named in the CPUC report are Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN - News), Mirant Corp. (NYSE:MIR - News), Reliant Energy Inc. (NYSE:REI - News) and AES Williams, a power venture between AES Corp. (NYSE:AES - News) and Williams Cos. Inc. (NYSE:WMB - News). |
