Quote:
Originally posted by DanTheCat
If you had been paying attention, you would know that the problems in California were caused by a lack of supply.
Dan 
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California, in it's regulations, makes it very difficult to install power generation equipment. So, it imports power from other states. During the energy crisis, the normal sources of power for Cali were out of commision (A nuclear plant for maintenance and Northwest Hydro from drought).
In 1999/2000 I _Personally_ was involved in the sale of 600 MW (just about the amount that California was short) to a producer in California. When time came to install the units, some local official was opposed to the installation and halted it (There 'might' have been an Indian Burial ground there - later proven false). The equipment sat in a parking lot in South Carolina while California went through blackouts.
GE met _directly_ with Davis. My boss met personally with Davis. When it was shown that we had 4 units ready to ship and we just needed help in getting through some additional (and unwarrented) red tape, Davis said, no, he wouldn't help. Davis thought he gained more with the crisis than by fixing it.
And he was right. He was re-elected the following year.
Those 4 units are now installed and beginning to produce power near Escondido, just north of San Diego.