"The air-conditioning load is going up like mad because of new communities in hot places,'' Rosenfeld said. "If it wasn't for that, our energy efficiency programs are so good that we would be bringing down energy use per capita.''
OK, smartass, so are you going to subsidize me to live near the beach? I don't live in the SF valley because I love the scenery or the heat. I moved there because a house is at least $200,000 cheaper than the westside.
This guy is either ignorant, or just lying. There is no power shortage, there is an infrastructure problem. (At least in Los Angeles)
The transformers that kept exploding were 1920s and 1930s technology, and they still space them based on consumption in the 1940s.
Add to that the number of remodels with wiring that is not to code, and you have real problems. A lot of these people with Subzero refrigerators, five plasma televisions, and other goodies are drawing on too much current than the wiring in their house can handle....multiply this by more houses, and the transformers overwhelm.