🚀 go-pugleaf

BitHead (eflorack@rochester.rr.com) wrote:
: On 24 Jun 2001 21:42:57 GMT, Merlin Dorfman <dorfman@rahul.net> wrote:

: >BitHead (eflorack@rochester.rr.com) wrote:
: >: On 10 Jun 2001 15:50:44 GMT, Merlin Dorfman <dorfman@rahul.net> wrote:
: >
: >: >Birdie Bits (bb@wbirdbitzk.com) wrote:
: >: >
: >: >
: >: >:    =================================================
: >: >: California doesn't have power because the nuts there oppose
: >: >: power plants, even wind machines, but the CA nuts want to
: >: >: blame Texas instead.
: >: >:    =================================================
: >: >
: >: >     The truth of the matter, of course, is that NO applications
: >: >to build power plants have been turned down. 
: >
: >
: >: Ah, so you're blaming the power companies for not building power
: >: plants. Tell me, why would they not want to?
: >  
: >      No  blame, just the facts.  The facts are that in the
: >economic climate that immediately followed deregulation, it
: >was not at all clear that power could be sold for a reasonable
: >price over its cost of production.  Therefore the power
: >companies saw the risk of investing in construction as out of
: >proportion to the likely return.  Turns out they were wrong--
: >they could have made lots of money--but it wasn't clear at
: >that time.
: >    In other words, no conspiracy to drive up prices; just
: >plain old economics.

: OK, I'll give you more credit for smarts than my first reading on your
: text showed, but not much. It may be the way you're wording things
: here, so I'll withhold further comment on what I'm seeing of your
: position while I wait for further clarification.

     Huh??

: Meanwhile:
: Dereg was clearly the best deal the California power companies could
: ever have imagined. It always is. The power company's concern was not
: over Dereg, but the way the state was imposing it's socialist will on
: them, in the form of price caps, which most certainly prevented them
: being able to fufill their mandate, much less make money while doing
: it.

     The deregulation bill, as passed, was exactly what the
utilities wanted and lobbied heavily for, including the crazy
provision that rates would be reduced 10% and the utilities 
would borrow money to make up the deficiency, the bonds to be
paid back by charging more for electricity after deregulation's
benefits were realized and the cost of power went down.
     As Casey Stengel used to say, "You could look it up."
Hard to believe now, but true.