Call me a jackass if you will, but I live in Sacramento, and I signed that damn recall thing. Why? Well, I have no party affiliation, don't really care who the governor is... ...but it's nice to shake things up every now and again .
California screwed up its own deregulation. Texas is having no problems and many consumers are saving. The fact that some companies acted unethically in no way takes away from the fact that California was extremely stupid in the way it went about this.
I agree they did a bad job, I disagree that California's bad job justifies monopolists/cartelists use of unethical and/or illegal business practices to take advantage thereof, as FDK seems to suggest.
Maybe not with power at the moment, but take a look at your own freaking budget. It's in greaaaaat shape.
True enough, I meant only in deregulation. I don't think it's possible for any state to have "no problems" ever.
I dunno. Which helps make the point. The lights are on in California right now. The power debacle certainly hurt, but the budget problems are a good deal larger than that. *If* we're blaming Davis in large part for our fiscal woes, then all states should be looking to axe their governors.
Ya we may be 9 billion in the hole here in Texas, but we have "ONE TOUGH GRANDMA" to get us out of the mess. Carol Keeton-Rylander-- Texas comptroller and her election/reelection catch phrase. I always wonder why she doesn't catch more flack for this mess. Mr. Clutch your obviously stating your own opinion, any evidence to back up your claim that "Many consumers are saving". How many is "many" and how much are they saving? Good luck backing that up.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1743692/ Obviously Texas deregulation has been well-reported on by newspapers. I'm not sure why you thought that would be so hard to back up.
Maybe not conclusive enough for you, but conclusive enough for FERC. you may want to rethink your "may" Enron Is Barred From Selling Electricity and Gas in U.S. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:00 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal energy regulators on Wednesday barred Enron Corp. from selling electricity and natural gas at market rates anywhere in the United States, in response to findings that it manipulated Western power markets two years ago. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Enron would be able to sell power, but at much less competitive prices, virtually shutting down the company's ability to compete. It can resume regular business once it emerges from bankruptcy proceedings and gets FERC approval. FERC Chairman Pat Wood said it was the first time the commission had imposed its so-called ``death penalty'' on power sellers. ``We send a clear signal that competitive markets must work in the interest of customers and the public interest,'' Wood said. The Houston-based Enron went bankrupt after a series of revelations of hidden debt, inflated profits and accounting tricks. Thousands of workers lost their jobs and investors were left with virtually worthless stock. The company, which has still been doing business, must file its Chapter 11 reorganization plan by June 30. Wood said the commission also would uphold the validity of long-term power contracts in California and other Western states that were signed at the height of the energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. California and several Western utilities had argued that the long-term prices were linked to the manipulation by Enron and other companies. The agency on Wednesday asked 65 power companies, utilities and municipalities to justify their prices and marketing strategies during the energy crisis. ``This order is a major step toward addressing the manipulation that contributed to the extraordinary western power crisis,'' Commissioner William Massey said. In March, the agency's commissioners agreed with California officials that there was widespread manipulation of natural gas and electricity prices and supplies in California when the state negotiated more than $20 billion in power contracts. As a result, Wood said California would receive more than the $1.8 billion in refunds recommended by a FERC judge in December. The exact amount is to be determined in the coming months. After a 13-month investigation into the matter, FERC singled out seven subsidiaries of Enron and five other companies for taking advantage of a dysfunctional market and reaping millions of dollars in unjust profits.
Sam, thanks for the research. I couldn't believe that the thread had gone this far without someone pointing out that Enron and others have been shown to have defrauded the State of Cal. F.D. Khan, I don't think that you can write this off as being ok because you claim Cal was stupid or had bad dereg laws. The belief that deregulation is always good is akin to a religious belief as it can't be disproved by mere facts. 1) airline dereg led to a mess. 2) brokerage dereg lead to the brokerage industry scandals and Worldcom etc. 3) The SEC called this one and had prevented this type of melt down since the Great Depression prior to the weakening of regs. etc. etc.
Glynch, don't forget about ongoing media deregulation, which proceeds rapidly despite the fact that it has bipartisan opposition. Bipartisan opposition isn't jack when it goes up against big money. Nothing like being able to listen to the exact same playlist all across the radio dial from Salem, Massachuetts to Salem, Oregon!
