California’s electric power crisis of 2000-2001 raised the blood pressure of millions of state residents. It also pushed a major utility into bankruptcy, and cost the state billions of dollars in lost productivity and expensive spot-market power. Most experts point the blame at the flawed way California deregulated its electric power markets in the late 1990s. This issue of CEP provides a progress report on the problems and successes of the state’s post-crisis re-regulation strategies. These seek to balance consumer costs, environmental protection, and competition in the power marketplace.
