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Enron Mail |
It looks like there are about 12 articles in the San Diego Union concerning
bidders in the San Diego market. Following are other articles and letter to the editor. SDG&E is entertaining offers from major power companies for a fixed-price contract to stabilize electricity prices. The utility has received at least one proposal from Enron Corp. for a multiple-year contract at prices less than half current levels -- but 50 percent above prices in the spring. "It's like apples and oranges," said Thomas Williams, the Duke spokesman. He noted that Roseville had recently secured power at 4.9 cents from Enron -- a Duke competitor -- but had signed a five-year contract. Letters to the Editor The real reason our electric rates are so high is because San Diego Gas & Electric made a major goof by selling off all its power plants to other utilities. That's why only San Diego County is suffering from deregulation. The rest of the state is being served by other utilities that have plants. They can produce electricity for about 11 cents per kilowatt hour. They do not need much of the California power pool electricity. However, SDG&E's parent company, Sempra, has no local power generators and is forced to take all of its electricity from the pool, which is being exploited by large out-of-state utilities, such as Enron, which is charging 25 cents per kilowatt hour. The California power pool sells all power at the same rates, but only Sempra is forced to buy large quantities. WILLIAM P. BROTHERTON San Diego <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<. 16-Jul-2000 Sunday I find it difficult to believe your readers are surprised by the recent rise in electricity rates. Opponents to deregulation predicted the outcome some years ago before AB 1847 was passed. Anyone with a simple education in economics would foresee that with deregulation the utilities would direct their marketing at the largest users who would lock in low rates by contract. In the end, the individual homeowner would pay for any rate increases. Advising people to lock in a rate with Enron or a similar company will not resolve the problem. Someone somewhere at the lower end of the food chain will have to pay the deregulated power rate. If one had even read AB 1847, one would have discovered that the initial 10 percent rate reduction was paid for by issuance of state bonds and guess who will pay those off. As you may now realize, the power generation industries in California and New York were not interested in any studies based on reality, which were discarded. The public's lack of diligence with pending legislation will be paid for by the same public. The studies were available, but I guess that initial rate reduction was more appealing. ROBERT EMERY El Centro <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< State Sen. Steve Peace is realizing that deregulating the power industry from one monopoly (SDG&E) to another (Enron) isn't working. Well, duh! And to compensate for his stupidity, we the consumers should make ourselves heard through "economic disobedience." The real statement and fresh resolve from Peace are his apology to all of his constituents that relied on and voted for him, to reverse and fix this ridiculous mistake. I hope he had our best interests at heart when he bought into this idea. Who specifically lobbied him for this? Has anyone else noticed the deafening silence by all our other elected state officials from San Diego? We have the highest gas prices, highest milk prices and now highest power prices! Does anybody in state government care about the people? Or is this the Republican doctrine of less government in action? MIKE BURNETT La Costa
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