Tuesday, October 29, 2019

California's Blackouts Are Part Of A Far Bigger Problem

California's Governor Newsom provides us with a ready case in point.

Yesterday Bloomberg News reported that the California Governor was interested in a takeover of PG&E by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Corp. On its face, it sounds logical in several ways.

Presumably, the governor envisages Berkshire purchasing the PG&E's equity at a steeply discounted price, replacing a considerable portion of the utility's outstanding long-term debt and appointing new senior management and a new Board of Directors.

What compounds the present political difficulties is the unfortunate legacy of the Enron scandal in California and its political aftermath.

The bottom line? Shortly after being elected to a second term Governor Grey Davis lost a recall election and became only the second governor in US history to be removed from office in this fashion.

The cause? The calamitous introduction of electricity deregulation in California, complete with price spikes, dodgy energy trading, rolling blackouts and the bankruptcy of PG&E The villain then was Enron and its various schemes to manipulate wholesale power prices.

Every politician in California is aware of this history.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Californias-Blackouts-Are-Part-Of-A-Far-Bigger-Problem.html

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