CA Energy: end of summer review

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, I just had to mark a good occasion:

Today is October 6, 2001. Summer is well over.

And I live in California. And there were amazingly NO blackouts this past summer. Not one.

Considering all the predictions of doom this past spring, that CA would be dark & cold all summer, I’m frankly impressed. I don’t know if someone’s plan is working, or if the whole crisis was a bunch of hooey in the first place, but I’m amazed that the lights stayed lit.

There have been (predictable IMHO, but perhaps substantive, TBD) allegations of a) dumb things CA did with power contracts and, b) ethical allegations associated with power contracts, but…

But the lights sure stayed on, didn’t they? Gotta like that.

But my power bill has more than doubled. Hmmm.

So what’s your opinion: Was this all a tempest in a teapot? Is CA doing the right things? Did the Fed action to throttle energy prices really do the trick? Or did this just scare the energy utils into playing nice for now? Are the public bailouts for PG&E and SD an outrage? Will the ‘crisis’ return? Was there really a crisis in the first place?

(My answers would be: Yes, maybe, yes, yes, yes, hmmm, hmmm.)

2

All I know is that my dad can’t blame me for a high electric bill. I kept turning the AC off.

3

Well, from a purely unscientific standpoint, this was one of the coolest california summers i’ve experienced. I did not run my window air conditioner once, my car does not have air conditioning, and I only missed it for a few days over the summer, and I do not recall any real heat waves of note.

I have little doubt that any real data will show that this was one of the mildest summers in history. I’m speaking from a bay area perspective. I’m not sure what happened in the southland.

4

Yes, of course zuma, point taken. I did neglect the ‘California got lucky with the weather’ angle. Thanks.

However, I live just south of San Jose, and, yes, it was indeed fairly moderate in June and July. But it was pretty darned hot in August and September: it was in the 90s to well over 100 I’d say more than 3/4 of the days by Chez Sqeegee. So I don’t think the weather alone was the deciding factor. Sure, it contributed, especially in early summer, but we did (or at least I did) get a fairly normal last-half of the summer.

I’ll see if I can dig up a cite on the average temps this year v. ‘normal’.

5

It’s a really long story, but basically, the market moved into action and solved the problem, without much governmental help. And you are unlikely to see blackouts for a while now, as so much new generation and transmission capacity is continuously scheduled to come online that CA should be in good shape for about 8 years.

6

Hi, Anthracite, it’s an honor to see you in this thread. (Though not unexpected, given the topic.:slight_smile: )

Yep, it is interesting how the whole ‘power crisis’ gradually deflated about 8 or so weeks ago. I’m not sure I completely agree with you that the market solved the problem, considering that in some senses (and, yes, deregulation madness was of course a factor) the market caused the problem in the first place.

It seems like the turning point was when the FERC acted to put price caps in place, something that the feds were loath to do but finally did under great pressure. And this was while all the armchair economists (or should I say ‘dittoheads’?) were moaning about how ‘price caps won’t work’. It sure looks like they worked pretty darned well.

And then of course a raft of new power plants have been coming on line, with more on the way, so in that sense the market is working fine - the price of power drove new investment in generation. (Which is probably what you were referring to, correct?)

But that little push from the gummint sure did help for the short-term.

7

It’s fascinating to see that at night now, CA is buying power at the ridiculously low price of $12/MW*hr - where average should be about $25, and 2 months ago it was $100-$400. It’s obviously a buyer’s market now. :slight_smile:

8

YYESSS! We (CA) won the power wars! Woooooo!

Damn, it’s nice to have something really good happen once in a while. (Especially after the shitty events of September :()

(a short pause will ensue before the first rightist nitpicker injects vitriol and finger-pointing into the thread: it’s all CAs fault in first place, it’s the Demos/GDavis’ fault, the free market should be allowed to work, blahblahblah. Get over it. The crisis was averted. The system worked. The gummint reluctantly intervened, and CA [power companies, bureaucrats, and plain folk] did was needed. Neener.)

(OTOH, my electric bill is now pretty whopping, perhaps permanently. Hmmph.)

9

I moved from Ohio to California (Santa Cruz) last April. In both places I lived in small one bedroom apartments. My electric bill in Ohio averaged around $30. I had central air conditioning. When I received my first electric bill in California, I was afraid to open it even though I do not have air conditioning here and have been very careful about conserving, i.e. turning off lights, not running the dishwasher at peak hours etc. I needn’t have worried, however, since my electric bills so far have not exceeded $20. Not much of an energy crisis for me :slight_smile:

10

Ah, shawa you’ve discovered the newest quirk in CA electric billing: baseline usage.

The ‘baseline’ on your electric bill is the amount at which you will be charged 1x the KWH rate. If you stray over the baseline, you are a ‘heavy user’ of electricity, and the rate you are charge for electricity rises, up to, IIRC, about 2x the baseline rate.

The interesting thing is that someone’s baseline is not calculated based on the size of that dwelling, it’s based on what area where you live. Areas that historically have used more electricity (generally the hotter areas of CA where more air conditioning is used) receive a higher baseline.

In my area, the baseline for electricity is a little less than 400khw (I’m going from memory here; I should probably dig up the last electric bill). That’s probably about enough to run a lamp, a fridge, the random clock-radio, and 1 TV for a months’ usage. So, congrats, shawa, since you live in a 1br apartment, your power budget probably fits within the ‘baseline’, so you pay less for your electricity. Good for you.

The twist here is that the average home in CA uses about 1000kwh per month, so the average home in CA will always exceed baseline usage, and so is considered a ‘heavy user’ and will be charged 1.5-2x what you’re paying.

The charge for exceeding baseline usage is intended to encourage energy conservation. The problem is that, because an apartment dweller is given the same baseline as a 4br home, this charge is applied unevenly, so many homeowners who are unable to reduce usage to closer to baseline will receive punishing increases in electric charges.

Now, some of this equation has a bit of equity to it: people who use more power are charged more. And I won’t cry for a McMansion dweller; that person can either afford it or will turn off 3 of the 4 room-sized TVs they’re watching. However, it seems unfair that a family in a 4 bedroom home, or (more to the point) unrelated roommates splitting a rented house, should pay more overall for electricity than an apartment dweller.

The CA PUC has made noises about reevaluating the assignment of baseline amounts for different areas and dwellings. A decision is expected sometime in 2002.

Anyway, shawa, welcome to the weird world of CA energy. Congrats on that small dwelling. :slight_smile: