California faces a summer of power cuts and price increases
Power starved Californians face an 80% rise in the price of electricity as the state struggles to meet demand.
A summer of power cuts has been predicted.
This is probably the worst economic calamity the state has ever seen,’’ said David Marshall, chief financial officer at Gregg Industries, an iron foundry in El Monte.
‘‘It has got ramifications well beyond anything that we can begin to understand.’’
Those who use the most electricity will face the biggest increases - as much as 80% for residential customers who use the most power - up to £185 a month.
The increases will be retroactive to March 27 - the day the record rises were approved.
Electricity shortages in the richest state in the US this summer will be worse than authorities had predicted.
Blackout-weary consumers face up to 260 hours of rolling blackouts during the sweltering summer months, affecting everything from traffic lights to hospital equipment.
California’s chronic power crisis has already forced the state’s biggest utility to file for bankruptcy protection.
The state’s flawed 1996 deregulation law forced utilities to absorb sharply higher wholesale prices instead of passing them on to customers.
