Electrifying Performances

California's senators' responses to the energy crisis

Carolyn Lochhead from the June 2001 issue

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At the same hearing, Boxer said she wanted "to expose the myth that environmental laws are responsible for the electricity crisis," placing a New York Times editorial into the record. But even she acknowledged that faux deregulation was a mistake. "You’re right, Mr. Chairman [Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska)], when you say that the deregulation that was pushed in California by Pete Wilson -- and the legislature, Democrats and Republicans together -- didn’t fully deregulate," she said. "It said you can’t pass the price on to consumers. However, Mr. Chairman, I would say to you, if in fact [utilities] could, prices could go up, you know, 1,000 percent, 600 percent. So I ask you, whether in the real world, consumers would accept that kind of increase?"

Consumers surely would rather not see that sort of price hike. Politicians, despite their role in creating such problems, want to be associated with soaring energy costs even less. But they may ultimately have little choice, and the paralysis that the prospect of rate increases inspires in California’s politicians now may only exacerbate problems later.

"The last thing elected officials in general want to be associated with is outrageous electric bills or outages," says John Fielder, a senior executive with Southern California Edison. "But both of those are certain."