Wendy Sherman: “in 1999, California paid $7 billion for electrical generation. A year later, last year, we paid $32.5 billion for the…”

“in 1999, California paid $7 billion for electrical generation. A year later, last year, we paid $32.5 billion for the same amount of electricity. Today, with conservation efforts, we will use no more electricity than we did 2 years ago, but we will pay 50, 60 or $70 billion for the same number of electrons. This is because so many turbines in California are, quote, closed for maintenance. If my colleagues will see this chart, they will see that roughly 10,000 megawatts, one-fifth of everything California needs, is shut down in excessive maintenance. Why? Because the independent energy wholesalers know that by closing some turbines for maintenance, they can drive the price of other kilowatts 10 times, 20 times, sometimes 50 times higher than the fair price. The answer is the Hunter-Eshoo bill, which will restore for at least a couple of years the regulation necessary to take the profit out of manipulation. We do not need charity. We need regulation.”