Blackouts averted -- at $1,900 per megawatt-hour

SACRAMENTO The state spent as much as $1,900 a megawatt-hour to buy power Wednesday as state grid operators narrowly avoided a third consecutive day of blackouts, Gov. Gray Davis said, reiterating his call for federal price caps.

The $1,900 is a record or near record since the state purchases began in January, said Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the power-buying Department of Water Resources. The $319,200 the department paid Reliant Energy for 168 megawatt hours at that price was enough to power 126,000 homes for an hour, Hidalgo said.

Reliant spokesmen did not return telephone messages from the Associated Press Thursday.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/ennotebook00511cci.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 11, 2001

Answers

This is the most blatant example of beuracratic stupidity I have ever seen. I ran a calculation, and at this price, the average home electric bill would be 1,800 per month. At no time has anyone out here asked me to turn off my hot tub or disconnect a second refrigerator or freezer. They could say mandatory. They could say we are forced to run house to house checks, and you will be fined if we catch you in non-compliance. The energy shortfall solution is just that simple. And I would be happy to oblige. We are being so totally screwed over. Next cliche I believe is hung out to dry.

-- Ken (n4wind@sonic.net), May 11, 2001.

The morons are always willing to mortgage the future to prevent public outcry today.

The CA public shrug their collective shoulders and say so what, its not coming out of my pocket today.

Not today but California businesses and homes will be paying for it later, that's guaranteed either through humongous rate increases taxes, inflation or a nice mixture of all three.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley1@netzero.net), May 11, 2001.