Southern California Edison on Brink of Bankruptcy

Los Angeles, July 23, 2001---Southern California Edison has warned state lawmakers that it stands on the brink of bankruptcy unless immediate legislative action is taken to help it solve the crisis. (7/23/2001) In a letter sent to California lawmakers, the state's second largest utility said that "SCE cannot avoid bankruptcy and the state cannot get out of the energy buying business without immediate legislative intervention."

The letter, signed by the company's Senior Vice President for External Affairs Bob Foster, was issued in response to a newspaper report, which suggested the utility may be able to avert bankruptcy without state intervention.

Californian lawmakers are currently locked in debate over three bills designed to restore the utility to credit-worthiness. The western state has been suffering from a power shortage crisis since last year due to the failure of the 1996-deregulation laws, which put ceiling on the retail prices the utilities charge their customers.

As a result, the two biggest utilities, Pacific Gas and Electricity Co. (PG&E) and the SCE, accumulated billions of dollars of debt buying power at higher prices than they charged the customers.

http://www.eyeforenergy.com/content.asp?news=18690

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 23, 2001

Answers

I wonder if the politicians will, like the cavalery, ride in at the last minute and save the day.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), July 24, 2001.