Second day of rolling blackouts starts

Thu Jan 18 11:00:09 UTC 2001

You're skipping the part where...

> PG&E is prevented from passing on their cost by law. Generator charges
> currently exceed allowed end-user rates by two orders of magnitude.

is because PG&E made a deal with the legislature and the CPUC in which they
accepted frozen consumer rates in trade for other concessions that resulted
in large profits and other transition charges which have been passed on to, 
and are still in the pockets of, the parent holding company.

at the time, the frozen rates were *above* their cost, and they were betting
on a future cost structure that would result in huge profits for them and 
their parent.

this, in my opinion, is no different from *any other* gamble one makes in
business management. sometimes big bets pay off... and other times, you're
so wrong that you're forced into bankruptcy.

perhaps the state should step in and bail out Northpoint, who bet on the
Verizon deal going through. or any number of other dot com businesses that
gambled and lost.

-matthew kaufman
 Tycho Networks/DSL.net
 matthew at tycho.net