Without going into detail, the answer to your question is "yes and no".

YES, when deregulation of the power industry was first brought about, it was
meant to do just that: provide end users with the choice of from whom they
wished to purchase their power, with PGE (the owner of the lines) being paid
a small fee for the delivery system.  This then would be a system much like
we have with telephones, wherein we can have MCI or Sprint be our phone
provider and they pay AT&T for the use of their lines.  And yet....

NO, that's not what is happening because when the system was deregulated,
PGE was placed under a state commission which limits what they can charge
for the power (supposedly for a fixed length of time), but the private firms
which have purchased the power plants are free to charge whatever they like
for the power.  Because this middle man exists, the consumer never gets to
use the power of "I won't buy from you because your service is bad or too
expensive"; and everyone is getting screwed.

Rs~
my opinions

Russ Smith, Systems Consultant
Problem Solved, Vacaville, CA
r s m i t h @ c u - h e l p . c o m
h p 3 k - l @ e - 3 0 0 0 . n e t

----- Original Message -----
From: "John" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 4:30 PM
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: rotating blackouts ordered for Northern
California


> At 17:03 17/01/01 -0500, Wirt Atmar wrote:
> >Mark writes:
> >
> > > Well, it's finally come to pass -- rotating blackouts have been
ordered for
> > >  Northern California:
>
> <snip>......
>
> >And it's only likely to get worse in the next little bit. Both PG&E
(northern
> >California) and SCE (southern California) have now seen their stock
> >downgraded to low-quality junk bond status. Both utilities, once among
the
> >largest in the nation, are now on the edge of complete financial collapse
> >unless the state of California comes to their rescue.
>
> Does this come out of the supposedly "competitive" environment whereby
> people can "buy" their power from other companies even though PG&E and SCE
> still actually deliver it?  I never could figure out how that all really
> worked.
>
> Unfortunately, they're now doing the same thing in Britain.
>
>
> John D. Alleyn-Day  [log in to unmask]
> Alleyn-Day International Ltd.
> Alleyn House, 15 Green Place, Oxford OX1 4RF, England
> Tel: +44(0)7020-939408; Fax: +44(0)1865-200256
> 3 Friars Lane,  Mll Valley  CA 94941-3723  U.S.A.
> Tel: +1-408-286-6421  http://www.Alleyn-Day.com
>