Cries

Aside from the political cries for regulatory actions to provideconsumer electricity rate relief, two days of federal hearingsMonday and Tuesday turned up a wide array of diagnoses andpotential prescriptions for curing what ails California’sstill-convalescing wholesale power market.

The decibel level of the cries to rollback California’s electricindustry deregulation was raised considerably last week withconsumer advocates, local and state elected officials, andregulators joining the growing chorus. There is the prospect forstate legislative hearings before the summer session ends inSeptember to look at possible changes in the state’s 1996electricity law.

Slightly more than one year after Midwest power prices spiked to$7,500/MWh from $25/MWh, causing suppliers to default on contracts,companies to go out of business and federal regulators to concludeit was a one-time anomaly, the power market did it again.

Slightly more than one year after Midwest power prices spiked to$7,500/MWh from $25/MWh, causing suppliers to default on contracts,companies to go out of business and federal regulators to concludeit was a one-time anomaly, the power market did it again.