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August 11, 2003

Factoid: California Power Plants

According to Art Torres, part of the reason for the current California budget deficit (somewhere around $38 Billion) is that in 17 years, no California governor built a single powerplant.

From a Democratic source in May of 2001:


By signing a bill by Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco,
Davis created the California Consumer Power and Conservation
Financing Authority -- a new state agency that can
issue up to $5 billion in revenue bonds to build, purchase,
lease or operate power plants.

Plants financed b y the authority will provide cost-based
electricity to California consumers, Davis said, which will
help stabilize the state’s volatile energy market.

The power authority is modeled after one in New York,
which has 10 power plants, 1,400 miles of transmission lines
and produces about 25 percent of the state’s power. Nebraska
also has a power authority, which created a market in
which residents pay 22 percent less than the national average,
Burton said.

An increase in the number of power plants down for
repairs this year “is strong evidence that people are manipulating
the market by withholding power,” Davis said.

“The only way we can fight back against this type of price
gouging and manipulation is to build more plants,” he said
at the bill-signing ceremony in front of a Sacramento Municipal
Utility District power plant.

I'm taking the Democratic side of the power argument because in my estimation it was the power issue that turned the political tables against Davis. Davis is a moderate and he handily defeated Bill Simon in the last election. The California Republicans screwed themselves by letting Simon off the chain, and the Riordan clique is now suffering.

I specifically remember that there were no blackouts in Los Angeles, because the DWP owned its own power and therefore couldn't get snookered by the sharps who ran energy spot markets.

Let's see when Arnold starts talking about this.

BTW, Bill Simon should sue to get rid of these squatters.

Posted by mbowen at August 11, 2003 02:33 PM

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Comments

Your page says that no governor has built a power plant in "X" years.
Let me tell you......no governor built a power plant ....EVER !!! not just Gray Davis.
they all have soft hands, like a woman.
The people that build power plants are roustabouts, welders, and boilermakers!!
They will kick your ass Gov Davis. You Pussy.
You have not ever built anything in your life.
Building things is a trade!
you are a bullshitter not a builder.

Posted by: michael at October 29, 2003 07:10 AM