[Dog Gone]

The difference this year is the availability of hydro power from Washington and Oregon, which was severely curtailed last year due to drought.

There were a lot of other factors, including a fire at the San Onofre nuke which shut it down, and refueling at the other nukes.

California should be okay for this year unless several key plants go down at the same time during hot weather.

But I question the assumption that adding 1,000 to 1,500 MW per year will keep up with demand. The population projections I've seen would require far more than that, and continually increasing each year.

If the State has to build power plants, that is proof positive that they have done something wrong to deter private investment.

[daviddennis]

Well, Gray Davis really has done his best to deter private investment, no doubt about it. He's worked hard at it!

On the other hand, I think some power plant investors were counting on continued windfalls from a prolonged crisis, so now that things have died down, investment is going to be curtailed.

But note that the article claims that projects are being delayed, not cancelled; my guess is that they are keeping a wary eye on economic trends and pausing until things improve again.

D