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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (191525)	10/12/2001 4:15:50 PM
From: willcousa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

I think Tom Brokaw should have to open his own mail.

To: DMaA who wrote (191525)	10/12/2001 4:36:33 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Not a severe power shortage, no. I'm sure the main problem was the totally-bollixed-up 'deregulation plan' that the legislature came up with... which capped retail prices while forcing the distributors to buy from only the spot market - they couldn't sign any long term contracts at all. That invited 'gaming' of the pricing system... and when you add to that the nearly decade-long slowdown in the approval of new generating capacity in Calif., which left the state with less peak hour generating capacity then most regions (also because the 'Internet / IT revolution' caused usage to soar beyond earlier predictions)... all in all, they were a disaster waiting to happen after that bill passed. Trust me though, good old Duke Power here in the Carolinas (nuclear, coal, wind, you-name-it generation capacity... pretty well diversified on the generating end), they would have LOVED to be able to ship more power to Calif. during the crunch.... They would have made a bundle.They are a pretty efficient producer. But line losses East coast to West coast are to high for that to be practical economically. The interconnections between the major grids are not robust enough. Most of the power to Calif. could only come from the Western region. I think Calif. lucked out with the mild weather, and they've got a lot of generating capacity under construction now. In a few years they may be exporting to other regions (if the grid will take it).