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To: Ilaine who wrote (59043)	1/18/2001 12:18:22 AM
From: pater tenebrarum	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

indeed. then again, everybody's downplaying the seriousness of the situation in public, and politicians are using it to score points...so i guess we shouldn't be surprised.

To: Ilaine who wrote (59043)	1/18/2001 1:38:44 AM
From: portage	Respond to of 436258

A new California Field poll on energy is coming out tommorrow. While the numbers of those believing there is a real energy problem are said to be changing somewhat, the crux of the matter is this: The average consumer-resident felt that the power system worked ok under the old system. Though they had no great love for companies such as PG&E, the service and prices were reasonably stable. Consumers had very little input into deregulation, nor did they particularly want it. It was pushed by industry and utilities, whose influence over the legislature seems to have bought them what they asked for. What they asked for was faulty, and has now blown up in their faces. Therefore, consumers are skeptical of anything they hear coming from either industrial users or utilities who were behind the deregulation. They are also in no mood to pay for the sins of those who pushed this system on them. This is the consumer sentiment that the polls are expected to indicate when released on Thursday. This is putting Gov. Davis in a no-win situation. Part of his alternative to share the pain of debt owed between taxpayers and the utilities has been foreclosed by the PGE Corp.'s stealth deal with FERC to separate its assets from PGE utility, to receive protection in case of bankruptcy (a typical case of trying to privatize benefits while socializing losses - sort of the reverse of what the dereg legislation did, accidently). This angered Davis, who was not aware they were pursuing this, probably because he was too busy fighting other fires. Now, to recover the debt, he either has to somehow get taxpayers to agree to bear a larger portion of the burden (political suicide), or take tougher action against the utilities and producers. Else risk being blamed for the lights going off and the valves being shut off. Or maybe a bankruptcy court will order ratepayer repayment and Davis will have no say. This also is assuming he can get the stabilized fixed rate going forward in some long term contract deals with the producers. Davis' biggest mistake is this recent comment, "consumers will not pay a penny more for their power" which will prove false, is stupid and irresponsible, and will come back to haunt him just like Sr. Bush's "read my lips". latimes.com Just what kind of action he could or should take against the providers enters uncharted waters. I sit bemused envisioning a California takeover of its power industry while Kenneth Lay (?) of Enron brings on the power of the new Bushidency, and bankruptcy courts counteract any such manuevers and save the day for the Texas titans. Meanwhile, a news brief just said we should have enough power to get us through to midnight tonight. Whoopee. Now we have a spot market in rolling blackouts ! Tommorrow is said to be even worse. Davis just signed an emergency order. Amazing. This will forestall bankruptcy for another day, but will pressure the state to come up with a long term contract deal within a day. The 10:00 news just said California may be entering a dark period in its energy history, and the crisis may be just beginning. Lots of businesses may get hurt Not all consumers are indifferent or unaware of the issue. Some are doing their part: sfgate.com Part of the recent demand spike is due to these new web server farms. Some eat up as much power as a steel mill, or 10,000 homes ! AboveNet, it was just mentioned on the news, eats as much power as 1.2 million homes (over what comparative timeframe was not mentioned, however). iwsun2.infoworld.com The upside ? Maybe we'll get a real public utility out of this again, and people will reduce their energy hogging ways. New supply will take awhile yet to come along. Watch out ! The ripple effects may not stay within the California borders, if this thing gets farther out of control.