The California Electricity Crisis
Posted by Hamada Rageh on Sunday, January 9, 2011
The California Electricity Crisis
350 pages | Hoover Institution Press (July 17, 2002) | 0817929126 | PDF | 1 Mb
Since the spring of 2000, energy problems have plagued California.
Californians have faced blackouts, seen the state budget surplus
disappear, watched Pacific Gas and Electric file for bankruptcy, and
listened to state officials point fingers at many organizations and
individuals for allegedly causing the crisis. The chain of events began
as an opportunity for California to restructure and improve its
electricity system. But after political leaders mismanaged the
electricity crisis, California now faces an electricity blight while it
struggles to recover from its self-imposed wounds. The California
Electricity Crisis focuses on policy decisions, their consequences, and
alternatives: the saga California has faced and is still facing.
Throughout this saga, one policy decision led logically to another, yet
at almost every juncture very different choices were possible. James L.
Sweeney examines how the opportunity for restructuring was turned into
risk, how challenges of increased demand for electricity and escalating
wholesale costs were mishandled, and how the growing crisis ultimately
turned into disaster. He documents how the California governor and
legislature responded to the short-term crisis by adopting ill-conceived
long-term measures—creating a harmful legacy for decades to come. But
Professor Sweeney also shows how the state can still move past its
difficulties by improving electricity markets, reducing risk, and
appropriately managing the state's financial obligations.