California Utility :: essays research papers

Chris Parker482.004Dr. SingerIn 1996 deregulation allowed California returns companies to deal power plants and collect over 19 billion dollars in rate imparter subsidies. The currency was employd to purchase plants in another(prenominal) countries, reward executives with huge pay raises and buy back stock. A handful of unregulated companies withheld power, causing shortages to procession wholesale prices. Deregulation led many consumers to believe that open markets would institute in an array of choices and lower prices. Consumers will have to settle for a single power provider at higher prices. Rates be nearly 150 percent higher than last spring. Power companies are exploiting the market for their own advantage. Some companies have jacked rates up to cc percent than offer a deal at a 50 percent hike.Utility companies promised to modernize the electricity market and reduce note and residential bills. The California public utilities commission is caving in to pressure to f alsify the investor owned utilities look good on Wall Street. Utilities are to use their markups to pay investors for stranded assets incurred during regulation. Utility companies lobbied to pass a law that conform to their needs, and now the situation has changed it is trying it again. In 1998 big utility companies lobbied advise 9 buy paying a local consumer reporter 106,000 dollars to frame a campaign. Proposition 9 would decrease electric bills and promote modernisation of the industry. Also, many agency boards are stacked with officials with ties to energy companies, creating conflicts of interest. A subdivision of Public Utilities Commission is being sued for an overseas investment. Taxpayers are paying for his effective bills. The investment was in a company his commission regulated.A modern study has found incriminating information on the California utility industry. Plant operators would skip maintenance routines. These errors would cause machines to break down and d rag power cut back. The plants would have sudden shutdowns with no justifiable reason. Shutdowns were mensurable to shrink the amount of power available driving up the price. They would sustain back power until the state is desperate and vulnerable. They could sell power at super high rates. They sold power to other states. Selling to other states allowed for an increase in wholesale prices. The California utility companies had planned to get up a large amount of profit off of deregulation.