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Enron Mail |
If interested in the timeline of deregulation activities
in California read on, otherwise please delete...dsg CC list suppressed... January 20, 2001 Anatomy of a Jolt A timeline of key events in California utility deregulation 1993 The California Public Utilities Commission's division of strategic planning publishes the "yellow book" exploring how the state might deregulate its power market. 1994 The PUC issues an order, informally called the "blue book," that officially initiates a study of power-industry restructuring in California. 1995 The PUC issues an order stating that electric customers in California should be able to choose their power provider by 2003 and that some of the state's largest investor-owned utilities should sell a portion of their power plants and turn over their transmission lines to an independent operator to facilitate competition. 1996 Gov. Pete Wilson signs Assembly Bill 1890 to open California's electricity market to competition. The bill calls for most customers to get the right to choose electricity suppliers in 1998, mandates a 10% rate cut the same year for small commercial and residential customers and allows the three biggest investor-owned utilities in the state to issue as much as $10 billion in bonds to finance the transition from monopoly status to full competition. 1997 Utilities begin taking steps to divest themselves of power-generation plants. Southern California Edison, a unit of Edison International, and Pacific Gas & Electric announce the sale of 13 generation plants in line with the PUC's divestiture policy. 1998 * Rates that utilities can charge consumers are capped until the utilities complete the divestment, expected in 2002. * Small commercial and residential customers of California's investor-owned utilities begin receiving the 10% discount on their power rates mandated in AB 1890. * The California Power Exchange and the California Independent System Operator begin functioning. * Utility customers who chose an alternative power provider also receive their first deliveries through the new provider. * Californians vote no on Proposition 9, a ballot initiative that would have prohibited the use of customer revenue to finance the utilities' bonds. 1999 San Diego Gas & Electric, a unit of Sempra Energy, becomes the first California utility to deregulate, allowing it to lift the price cap. Within a year, customers' bills triple as the utility passes on high wholesale power costs. 2000 * May 22: The California Independent System Operator, manager of the state power grid, declares the first of 36 Stage 2 alerts, when power reserves drop below 5%. * June 15: Rolling blackouts in San Francisco affect thousands. The blackouts are caused by slim power supplies due to several Northern California power plants shut down for maintenance. * Aug. 2: California agencies are beset by major electricity shortages. Gov. Gray Davis calls for investigation into possible price manipulation in the wholesale electricity market. * Sept. 7: State regulators approve a plan for San Diego customers that caps their rates for three years. * Sept. 11: Federal probe of California power prices begins. * Oct. 31: Federal panel suggests California abolish a mandatory-buy rule. * Dec. 7: ISO declares first Stage 3 emergency as power reserves fall below 1.5%. Conservation efforts avert rolling blackouts. * Dec 15: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves a flexible rate-cap plan, but allows power suppliers to charge utilities more if they can prove a higher price is warranted. * Dec. 26: Southern California Edison sues FERC, alleging the agency failed to ensure that wholesale electricity is sold at reasonable rates. 2001: * Jan. 4: State regulators approve emergency rate increases of 7% to 15% for customers of SoCal Edison and PG&E, who say they have lost billions of dollars because they cannot pass on high wholesale costs to customers. They later warn of bankruptcy and layoffs. * Jan. 11: ISO declares Stage 3 alert, but stops short of ordering blackouts. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson extends emergency order requiring out-of-state companies to sell power to California. * Jan. 16: ISO declares Stage 3 alert as several plants report a shortage of natural gas needed to operate. Edison says it doesn't have the money to pay $596 million it owes this week. * Jan. 17: ISO orders the first rolling blackouts of California's electricity crisis. The outages affect several hundred thousand customers in northern and central California. Gov. Gray Davis signs emergency order allowing the state Department of Water Resources to buy power as part of a plan to stave off the utilities' bankruptcy and further blackouts. * Jan. 18: California cuts off power to thousands of people for a second straight day as lawmakers rushed to enact emergency legislation to buy electricity at taxpayer expense and keep the lights on. * Jan. 19: State regulators slap California's two largest utilities with an order barring them from cutting off power to the 25 million people they serve. The lights were expected to stay on through the weekend in California, but the state order didn't completely erase the possibility of more rolling blackouts ordered by managers of the state power grid. Source: The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press
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