California's Daily Power Tab Reaches $73 Million

California's daily power bill has skyrocketed to an unbelievable $73 million a day.

California was paying $46 million per day to buy power on the spot market, but the price shot upward after Pacific Gas and Electric declared bankruptcy. Since then, the total daily bill has climbed past $70 million.

Gov. Gray Davis says the bankruptcy suit created uncertainty in the market, forcing power producers to increase their prices. The state has already spent more than $5 billion since it began buying energy earlier this year.

Story updated April 18, 2001 - 5:13 pm

http://www.kxtv.com/news-story/April2001/041801/calif-power-bill.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 19, 2001

Answers

the state is now spending money like a drunken sailor. No way this can go on for long. What happens when a state goes bankrupt? Are there any precedents?

All of this cannot help but affect the national economy adversely, and, in a big way.

-- Billiver (billiver@aol.com), April 19, 2001.

One alternative is that the governor seize the in-state assests of all the out-of-state generators, and the remaining 2/3 of the transmission system before Edison and SDG&E go bankrupt, under a state-of-emergency "immenent domain" proclimation, and holds them hostage until the prices are reduced or sells them to raise capital.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), April 19, 2001.

A lot of this equipment has been "rode hard and layed up wet" and it may not have much worth

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), April 19, 2001.