The Pankian Metaphor 3039

there was an article about part of the reason that cal. into trouble during the energy crunch .... the spot market can be much lower (vis-a-vis long term commited contracts) during periods of significant excesses. the article had some detail about cal. pucc pbutting some regulation about not allowing long term contracts ... just getting stuff on spot market.

long term contracts tend to have more incentive for capital investment by producers. attempting to live off the excesses not needed by others ... can result in shortages when you have no long term supply commitment

the northwest has had a lot of hydroelectric power which gets dumped into the power-grid. power over and above long-term contracts shows up on the spot market (sort of like unsold seats on airplanes or unsold rooms at hotels ... sometimes you can find some really great discounts at the last minute).

then the northwest was having a draught ... and hydroelectric plants were dumping less into the power-grid. this appeared to make it easier for some unscrupulous dealers to manipulate any perceived excess surpluses and the spot market; aka during periods of scarcity ... the spot market can be significantly higher than long term contracts).

this is a posting from a couple years ago, mentioning both preventive maintenance (on railroad tracks) as well as the article about california pucc having some regulation about getting power off the spot-market.

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