Blame Lawmakers for Utility Prices
Editor:
We have no one to blame but Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and the majority Democratic state Legislature for our energy crisis.
Although deregulation of utilities was approved, there was no competition, at least no local competition. It’s simple economics , when you reduce supply, prices go up. Why did this happen?
Because California Democratic legislators have prevented gas and oil exploration within the state of California in recent years. According to a good friend and a management officer for Sempra Energy, there are no new sources of energy within the state of California.
State legislators have seen to that. We are forced to purchase electricity and gas from outside the state, thus paying higher prices, and passing these higher costs onto the California consumer.
And price controls are not the answer, although misguided consumer groups would like you to think so. What they won’t tell you is that price controls are just another form of taxation. Either way, the taxpayer/consumer gets screwed.
Thanks to a few tree huggers bent on passing anti-energy legislation, all Californians are now forced to suffer with higher utility costs forever, or, until Californians throw out these socialists from office and open up California for much needed gas and oil exploration.
Deregulation assumes we have competition. What we have in California is a serious shortage of supply and shortsighted legislators.
Susan Peters
Escondido
Incompetence Or Cunning?
Is it incompetence or cunning? Every competent manager knows better than to shut down part of his plant for routine maintenance when heavy loads are expected.
Repairs, if necessary. But not routine maintenance! Yet that is the story we hear regarding electricity shortages.
But using cunning to achieve higher prices is an old routine. We’ve been through that with gasoline.
In this instance it appears to be more of the same. Electrical generators appear to have learned from gasoline producers.
And the schemes served up by politicians miss the point completely. Have we forgotten that it is politicians that got us into this mess in the first place?
Now we expect them to lead us out of it! Why, none know anything about running a business! And there are plenty of examples of how they mess up when running a business. You will never hear them talk about the merit of a project, only about getting the money. And much of that money goes to subsidizing their grand plans.
No, politicians should be kept out of this quagmire. One way or another, the customers will have to suffer through their actions. Then when there is true competition, all will benefit , both producer and customer.
Robert J. Hoffman
San Diego
The Lights Are On
Editor:
Many thanks to Martin Hill on his enlightening editorials concerning the real issues behind the state’s energy crisis. SDG & E; may want me to stay in the dark about who’s to blame for my $250 utility bill for December, but thanks to the Business Journal and Mr. Hill’s excellent articles, the lights are on.
T.C. Aldrich
Oceanside
