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Enron Mail |
thanks very much for the info. certainly makes it interesting. how's
things? P.S. do you know that edison at the FERC hearing said that it hedged $30MM and made a whopping $415 MM!!! Are they gouging San Diegans? Are they "gaming" the system? Inquiring minds want to know. You may want to check in with Smutney when Edison made the statement. There may be nothing to it, but it might be interesting to check into. Is Edison one of those "profiteers" who ought to give San Diegans a refund? "Karen Edson" <kedson@ns.net< on 09/14/2000 12:41:44 PM To: "Baker Carolyn (E-mail)" <cabaker@duke-energy.com<, "Bill Carlson (E-mail)" <william_carlson@wastemanagement.com<, "Bill Woods (E-mail)" <billw@calpine.com<, "Curt Hatton (E-mail)" <curt.hatton@gen.pge.com<, "Curtis Kebler (E-mail)" <curtis_l_kebler@reliantenergy.com<, "David Keane (E-mail)" <dnke@dynegy.com<, "David Parquet (E-mail)" <dparque@ect.enron.com<, "Duane Nelsen (E-mail)" <duanenelsen@msn.com<, "Ed Tomeo (E-mail)" <ed.tomeo@uaecorp.com<, "Edward Maddox (E-mail)" <emaddox@seawestwindpower.com<, "Eileen Kock (E-mail)" <eileenk@calpine.com<, "Ellery Bob (E-mail)" <bellery@spi-ind.com<, "Escalante Bob (E-mail)" <riobravogm@aol.com<, "Frank DeRosa (E-mail)" <fderosa@sanfrancisco.usgen.com<, "Greg Blue (E-mail)" <gtbl@dynegy.com<, "Hap Boyd (E-mail)" <rboyd@enron.com<, "Jack Pigott (E-mail)" <jackp@calpine.com<, "Jan Smunty-Jones (E-mail)" <smutny@iepa.com<, "Jeff Dasovich (E-mail)" <jdasovic@enron.com<, "Jim Willey (E-mail)" <elliottsa@earthlink.net<, "Joe Greco (E-mail)" <joe.greco@uaecorp.com<, "Joe Ronan (E-mail)" <joer@calpine.com<, "John Stout (E-mail)" <john_h_stout@reliantenergy.com<, "Jonathan Weisgall (E-mail)" <jweisgall@aol.com<, "Julee Malinowski-Ball (E-mail)" <jmball@ns.net<, "Katie Kaplan (E-mail)" <kaplan@iepa.com<, "Kent Fickett (E-mail)" <kfickett@usgen.com<, "Lynn Lednicky (E-mail)" <lale@dynegy.com<, "Marty McFadden (E-mail)" <marty_mcfadden@ogden-energy.com<, "Paula Soos (E-mail)" <paula_soos@ogden-energy.com<, "Robert Lamkin (E-mail)" <rllamkin@seiworldwide.com<, "Roger Pelote (E-mail)" <rpelote@energy.twc.com<, "Steve Ponder (E-mail)" <steve_ponder@fpl.com<, "Steven Kelly (E-mail)" <steven@iepa.com<, "Sue Mara (E-mail)" <smara@enron.com<, "Tony Wetzel (E-mail)" <twetzel@thermoecotek.com<, "Trond Aschehoug (E-mail)" <taschehoug@thermoecotek.com<, "William Hall (E-mail)" <wfhall2@duke-energy.com<, "Stephanie Newell (E-mail)" <stephanie-newell@reliantenergy.com<, "Steve Ponder (E-mail)" <steve_ponder@fpl.com<, "Sandi McCubbin (E-mail)" <smccubbi@ees.enron.com<, "Richard Hyde (E-mail)" <rwhyde@duke-energy.com< cc: "Ann Kelly (E-mail)" <kelly@hnks.com<, "Bev Hansen (E-mail)" <bhansen@lhom.com<, "Bob Judd (E-mail)" <caltech@ns.net<, "Govenar Scott (E-mail)" <sgovenar@govadv.com<, "Hedy Govenar (E-mail)" <hgovenar@govadv.com<, "Julee Malinowski-Ball (E-mail)" <jmball@ns.net<, "Levake Barbara (E-mail)" <blevake@syix.com<, "Monagan Mike (E-mail)" <mrmonagan@aol.com<, "Rob Ross (E-mail)" <robbiz@cwo.com<, "Rudman Cary (E-mail)" <cjrudman@softcom.net<, "Ron Tom (E-mail)" <rtom@govadv.com<, "Susan McCabe (E-mail)" <sfmccabe@mindspring.com< Subject: Dan Walters' Column Please see the last third of this column. Karen Dan Walters: 2% problems vex governor (Published Sept. 14, 2000) Two percent doesn't sound like much of anything, but California's economy is just so big -- a trillion-plus dollars a year, measured by either output or personal income -- that even a tiny share can mean many billions of dollars. As it happens, Gov. Gray Davis finds himself in the middle of several quasi-economic, quasi-political squabbles, each of which involves a couple of percentage points of California's economy -- and the outcome of which may affect his governorship. One showdown occurred last week when the Air Resources Board, an arm of the Davis administration, decided to stick with its policy of compelling the auto industry to sharply increase sales of zero-emission cars. There are about 2,000 electric-powered cars now on California's roads, and the ARB wants that to increase tenfold and beyond, despite industry assertions that battery technology isn't advanced enough. Californians lay out about $20 billion a year for a million new cars -- 2 percent of the state's personal income stream. The ARB's decision could either create an entirely new industry of nonpolluting cars, as advocates claim, or reduce the overall supply of cars that can be legally sold and drive up Californians' costs, as critics maintain. And Davis will get the credit or blame. Although exact numbers are hard to obtain, it's likely that within a few years, Californians will be spending another $20 billion a year to gamble, mostly in casinos operated by Indian tribes, thanks to legislation signed by Davis -- a major recipient of tribal political contributions. Cardroom operators, who say they may be driven out of business by lavish new Indian casinos, persuaded the Legislature to pass two bills that would allow them to offer new card games, including a form of blackjack. But the tribes oppose such expansion, obviously wanting to maintain what is rapidly becoming a state-sanctioned monopoly on casino gambling, and Davis must decide the bills' fate. Regardless of what he does, cardroom operators are mulling a federal lawsuit alleging that the Indian monopoly on slot machines violates federal law, which generally grants Indian casinos parity with other forms of gambling. The final 2-percent issue facing Davis poses the greatest peril to his governorship: the huge run-up in electric utility costs in the wake of deregulation. Utilities were paying about $20 billion a year for power before the recent spike, but their costs now have doubled. San Diego ratepayers got hit first, but those in other major metropolitan areas could feel the pocketbook pain soon. Davis signed two measures, one that rolls back San Diegans' power bills temporarily, but could lead to balloon payments later, and another to speed up siting of new power plants. But they are, at best, stop-gap measures, and he may veto a third bill that would have the state directly underwrite the higher utility bills. What the governor appears to be doing, by word and deed, is to plead with the Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Commission to get him off the hook. The timing is critical because Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison say they are absorbing billions of dollars in higher wholesale costs that they can't immediately pass on to consumers thanks to a rate freeze. The freeze is supposed to end in 2002, just as Davis is seeking a second term, and if he and his utility regulators can't come up with a solution by then, all hell could break loose as consumers' bills escalate sharply and they look for someone to blame. Davis may not have had anything to do with the original deregulation legislation -- as he points out at every opportunity -- but he's stuck with the problem now. Dealing with it could be critical to his political future. DAN WALTERS' column appears daily, except Saturday. Mail: P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852; phone (916) 321-1195; fax (781) 846-8350 E-mail: dwalters@sacbee.com <mailto:dwalters@sacbee.com< Recent columns: <http://www.capitolalert.com/voices/index_walters.html< Karen Edson kedson@ns.net 916/552-7070
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