Heat Wave Focuses Attention on California's Electricity Crisis: New Hoover Book Targets Problems, Proposes Solutions; Complimentary Copies Available for Working Press.News Editors As record-breaking temperatures swept the state last week, the sudden loss of a key Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, power plant plunged electricity reserves to their lowest level in a year, triggering a Stage 2 power alert. With state officials calling on the public to conserve, and California's electricity managers asking businesses statewide to cut power use, California again finds itself plagued by its unresolved electricity problems. Amid this crisis, James L. Sweeney's timely new book, "The California Electricity Crisis The California electricity crisis (also known as the Western Energy Crisis) of 2000 and 2001 resulted from the gaming of a partially deregulated California energy system by energy companies such as Enron and Reliant Energy. " (Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded by Herbert Hoover at Stanford University, his alma mater. The Institution was founded in 1919 and over time has amassed a huge archive of documentation related to President Press, 2002), offers solutions to the state's energy dilemma. Deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. , which afforded an opportunity for California to restructure its electricity system, making it more flexible and responsive to changing economic conditions, ended up -- through flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. implementation and failed political leadership -- in the electricity crisis and the financial crisis of 2001. These dual crises continue to trouble the state. "Since mid-year 2000, California's electricity problems have been a central concern in the state," writes Sweeney. "Californians have faced blackouts, seen the state budgetary surplus decimated, and listened to state officials point fingers at myriad organizations and individuals for causing the crisis." Could these crises have been avoided or, at least, anticipated? Did state and federal officials react appropriately? What realistic policies can help solve the blight blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. California may now face? "The California Electricity Crisis" answers these questions and offers some policy recommendations for the future, including Improving regional integration through -- Renegotiating long-term electricity contracts -- Considering realistic options to pay for California's long-term financial obligations Improving California electricity markets by -- Renegotiating long-term electricity contracts -- Considering realistic options to pay for California's long-term financial obligations Improving risk management by -- Renegotiating long-term electricity contracts -- Considering realistic options to pay for California's long-term financial obligations Managing California's financial obligations by -- Renegotiating long-term electricity contracts -- Considering realistic options to pay for California's long-term financial obligations "California's political leadership failed in 2000 to respond effectively to the challenge of tight electricity markets, mismanaged the electricity crisis in 2001, and thereby saddled the state with heavy long-term, electricity-related financial obligations," writes Sweeney. The governor and the California legislature responded to the short-term crisis by enacting a group of long-term measures that seemed "designed to turn California into a public power state rather than one characterized by a free market system for electricity. "As a result of the fundamental policy mistakes made by the state's governor and other political leaders, the saga continues," writes Sweeney, "with California facing an electricity blight as it struggles to recover from its self-imposed wounds." About the Author James L. Sweeney, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) is a nonpartisan economic research institution housed at Stanford University. It was founded in 1982 as a way to bring together economic scholars from different parts of the University. (SIEPR SIEPR Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research ), is a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University Stanford University, at Stanford, Calif.; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1891 as Leland Stanford Junior Univ. (still the legal name). The original campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. David Starr Jordan was its first president. . He is known for his work on energy economics and energy policy. Sweeney recently served on the review panel for the State of California Public Interest Energy Research Program, the National Research Council's Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy, and the National Research Council's Committee on Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. He is a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology and a senior fellow of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics. The Hoover Institution, founded at Stanford University in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the 31st president of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. , is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic public policy and international affairs Noun 1. international affairs - affairs between nations; "you can't really keep up with world affairs by watching television" world affairs affairs - transactions of professional or public interest; "news of current affairs"; "great affairs of state" , with an internationally renowned archive. The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) is a non-partisan economic policy research organization. Academics at SIEPR conduct studies on important economic policy issues in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and other countries. SIEPR's goal is to inform and advise policymakers and the public to guide their decisions with sound policy analysis. In the course of their research, SIEPR faculty train Ph.D. students as future economic policy analysts. |
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