* an editorial from today's Wall Street Journal


REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial) 

Asides: 

05/08/2001 
The Wall Street Journal 
Page A26 
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 
California 's Electric Lottery 
Golden State residents used an impressive 9% less electricity in the past two 
months than they did during the same time last year, but it won't be enough 
to dodge rolling blackouts this summer. Southern California Edison is 
assigning each of its 4.3 million customers a number from one to 114 that 
groups customers in a specific set of circuits totaling 100 megawatts. So 
when, for example, the utility has to cut 500 megawatts of power, five 
groupings will lose power for an hour. The numbers will be announced on radio 
and TV, much like a lottery. But everyone will lose in this lottery, which 
has been brought on by the stubborn refusal of California 's politicians to 
override environmental objections to new power plants and then their efforts 
to cap prices on the remaining power.