[Flying Circus]

Consumers benefited from price controls last year rather than paying the real price of electricity. The debts are a direct result of consumers paying below market rates while the companies selling the power were forced to purchase at market rate. Now is the time to pay the piper.

This is the result of politicians in Sacramento meddling rather than letting the market work. If consumers were being billed at market rates last year then they would have reduced electrical use, blackouts would have been less of a problem, prices would not have peaked as high as they did and the debts incurred by the utilities, if any, would be smaller and would be their responsibility.

To me (and I am a consumer of power in CA) it seems only just that we now pay at a higher rate because we incurred that debt. It is leftist hypocrisy to say that we should have the benefits but not the consequences.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The debts are a direct result of consumers paying below market rates while the companies selling the power were forced to purchase at market rate.

And the consumer wasn't forced to pay that rate?

You're saying they should have had the vision and foresight to pony up more than they were being billed to avoid the power companies' debt load now?

[itsahoot]

Now is the time to pay the piper.

Which Utility do you work for? Enron?