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Old 08-20-2009, 11:21 AM   #27
Tron_fdc
In Your MCP
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Watching Hot Dog Hans
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Flamer View Post
The problem California had was that they deregulated their whole industry. So there were power companies that started to build their own power lines and it completely messed with the grid, causing brownouts and blackouts. We won't see that here.
California's problems had nothing to do with companies building their own lines causing brownouts. It was entirely Enron's traders manipulating the marketplace causing false shortages. This was proven in court.....Enron traders would shut off generation for ridiculous reasons, causing the price to spike due to power shortages. They owned the generation, so suddenly they were selling into the spot market for MASSIVE profits.

Theoretically this could happen here, seeing as Enmax/Enron own the lions share of generation, but I think they have to submit maintenance schedules to the Power Pool. They can't shut down unexpectedly unless it is a major issue.
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