Stephani Stephenson on fri 22 dec 00
Here's another twist:
The current natural gas problem in California is not only about supply
and demand; it is about delivery.
This is the simplified version:
Sempra energy owns southern California SDGE and other energy related
subsidiaries. Sempra owns the natural gas pipeline in Southern
California and controls access to the pipeline. Let us say that Sempra,
like other energy companies, is a very ,very ,vertically integrated
company (understatement!). A few years back there was legislation on
behalf of other natural gas suppliers who had plenty of natural gas but
could not gain access to the delivery system, i.e. the pipeline. They
wanted to build a new pipeline.
Sempra energy was behind the failure of that legislation. Sempra
obviously did not want a new pipeline. They own the existing one! They
can charge exorbitant prices for use of that pipeline.
This at least is the big short term contributor to the problem. It
doesn't take a genius to see that the term free market is ridiculous .
Long term , this is a Gordian knot of a problem: economic , demographic,
regulatory, and environmental.
Stephani Stephenson
Leucadia CA
mudmistress@earthlink.net
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