Power companies, obviously. Were you paying attention during the shortages of 2002? See the *calpowercrisis index for details.
Some businesses signed long term contracts that they are very happy with.
As negotiated by their hand picked boy working for Davis. There's a reason Edison International and John Bryson donated over a quarter million for Davis' election.
Was the breakup of long distance services years ago bad for business?
The initial conditions were different. You will recall that the infrastructure during the breakup of AT&T was entirely adequate to meet the ramp in demand. It was still a mess at first and didn't have to be.
Sounds like a plan generated by a committee in the People's Republic of China.
Well your preference to me looks to me like it was either cooked up in Steve Peace's office or based upon a poor understanding of the current physical condition of California's power grid, pipeline system, and generating capacity.
I am not trying to insult you or argue but you accused me of ideological babble but what do you call your position other than ideology?
You did insult me, you got pedantic on a very elementary level while making assumptions that are not supported by facts. The plan I suggested is a practical way out of a criminally induced shortage. There was racketeering, influence buying, manipulation... Why should the people and businesses of California reward that? Why should small businesses go bankrupt because of unnecessary price shocks?
Also the ROI is a very important parameter in business planning that is linked to power prices. Even if the permitting process is streamlined, the pricing of power may preclude a decision to develop.
Duh. Does it really matter that much if the ROI is spread out over five years instead of one as long as the area under the present value curve is the same? In many respects a power company might prefer the former.
Lastly, there is nothing barring the currently contracted power providers form delivering power at a nonshock price for their remaining term while simultaneously allowing businesses to sign new contracts for new power services.
Peace's deregulation did not permit long term contracts and was restricted to the spot market.