Joel, can I go fishing with you?...I'd rather be fishing than arguing about power issues...

Skygirl, I knew you would be unable to hold out. It's Ken Lay's fault--too bad he is dead. By the way, Ken Lay supported Democrat Ann Richards for Tx Gov over W Bush. Ann and Ken were close friends, although not what you are thinking...she bats for the same team as Ken.

I am worried about your common sense...if you can't recognize sarcasm, ie...ATC joke.

Ok...You guys convinced me. There is no electricity shortage problem in California!!??

I care about the issue because I fly there often and have good friends in the bay area/SoCal...beautiful country.

If you are from California, it does not matter if you are a liberal democrat, moderate democrat, moderate republican (like me), or a downright conservative, you KNOW Ken Lay and Enron were the biggest reason for the energy crisis in 2000. Ask our most conservative politician (Tom McClintock (and yes he is very conservative)), and he will tell you Enron screwed our state in 2000.


As for the energy shortage, it does not exist. Three days ago we had a Stage 1 power alert. What does that mean? It means our reserves dropped below 7.5%, but were higher than 5% (stage 2). I have lived here 23 years, and it has NEVER EVER been so hot here. And not jost Norcal. It was the entire state. Usually when theres a heat wave, it is only in norcal or socal. This time it was both. We set record high temperatures for days on end. And not the typical 2-3 degrees. We set records by 10-12 degrees. It was downright hot. Hotter than it has ever been. Hotter than it will ever be for many many years. And we still had a good reserve.

The reason why we don't build many more powerplants is we don't need them. Remember, we have very mild winters here. Many of our powerplants are idle during winter months. We just don't need a lot of electricity in winter. Highs are typically never below 60 degrees. The amount of power we have today (for our population today) is sufficient. As our population grows, we will need to add a few more power plants. But we do not need a massive increase.


Just to add something on the California VS. Texas thing...
I have traveled abroad a lot during my life. And let me tell you one big secret. When people ask where you are from, I tell them California! There are certainly people who are very baised against the United States. But I always get an incredible response when I tell them California. (just keep that in mind if you are from CA and traveling abroad)

Just to add another dimension to that, I had a lot of Texans in my unit during my tour in Korea, and whenever we were around the locals they'd ask us where in the US we were from. Their reactions were invariably more enthusiastic for my "California," even to the point of awe and wonder. Oohs and ahs. Needless to say, the Texans were not pleased.

Cali is beautiful...and since it is, you better not say anything negative about it! This post started w/ a question about the ATC blackout and I was informed it was a car accident??? Case closed??? I guess it was not a result of the other continuous blackouts that hit the state every other year.

For the millionth time...I lived in San Jose/Mt View/Burlingame for 6 years and love many things about it...but...there are some serious tradeoffs to make...each his own.


Uncle Bose, looks like you made a good impression on those Koreans...They sure like it in Cali.

Austin sure has taken a ton of "disenfranchised" Californians over the last 7 years. Phoenix and Vegas have taken many Californians as well...does that make Nevada, Arizona, and Texas better??

And finally to put a nail in this post's coffin:
Since College Football is the undisputed best sport on the world...How 'bout them Longhorns!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reggie who? Matt what?

The number of Californians moving out is nothing compared to the number of outsiders moving in, or to the number of natives staying for that matter.

Uncle Bose, "The number of Californians moving out is nothing compared to the number of outsiders moving in, or to the number of natives staying for that matter."

The number of OUTSIDERS moving in...I think that about says it all!!! Skygirl will be very offended...diversity is most important...even when you become a minority.

What does it say exactly? Is "outsiders" another offensive term for the oversensitive PC types that I should be aware of? Ah, well...if I want diversity, I'll travel. I'm from one of the whitest areas of Orange County and have no complaints.

Uncle Bose,

To live in your neighborhood, from how you described it, what is the avg salary of your neighbors??

I miss that wx, not this past week though.

What are you rambling about Skygirl being offended by? Oh, don't worry CargoBob, Skygirl loves you too.