Richardson Says California Power Crisis on Path Toward Resolution

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Richardson Says California Power Crisis on Path Toward Resolution --Richardson cites progress made Tuesday on California utility credit problem

By Robert Schroeder, BridgeNews

Washington--Jan. 10--California lawmakers, regulators and power companies are making good progress toward resolving that state's electricity crisis, U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Wednesday. Richardson said "a lot of progress" was made at a Tuesday meeting on the issues of financing and credit for California's two largest utility companies.

"We are on the path toward resolving the problem," Richardson told reporters at the Energy Department.

Two groups are meeting Wednesday at the U.S. Treasury Department here to hammer out specifics of a framework agreement reached at Tuesday night's meeting. In particular, the groups are working on financial issues such as a moratorium on payments from utilities to generators. They also are examining regulatory issues involving state purchases of power and projected demand for electricity.

Richardson attended Tuesday's meeting, along with California Gov. Gray Davis, Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and executives from Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison.

Wednesday, Richardson reiterated he supports regional price caps on the wholesale cost of electricity and said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is continuing to meet to discuss that option as a way of providing some relief to the cash-strapped utility companies.

Davis and other principals are expected to meet again this weekend to try to finalize an agreement on solving the state's power crisis.

http://www.futuresource.com/ce/www/htdocs/fswrap.shtml?s=fs2&c=30&aid=37161

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 10, 2001

Answers

I posted this article so that I can say goodbye and good riddance to this guy.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 10, 2001.

Richardson supports regional price caps? ???

Oh, yeah. Sure. That's going to solve the problem.

Where's the tar and feathers? This guy needs to leave town. FAST.

-- JackW (jpayne@webtv.com), January 10, 2001.


Bravo Martin, and good riddance it will be. If these political hacks can solve the energy problem by having Regulatorry Commissions put price caps on "deregulated" industries, when does the water walking begin? However, if we could just capture the hot gases these guys produce a solution might be in sight. It would also have the side benefit of reducing air polution.

-- Warren ketler (wrkttl@earthlink.net), January 11, 2001.

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