Legislature

In 2002 I stood up in front of the U.S. Senate Energy Committee and presented reasons why Enron had caused the so called “California Energy Crisis.”  I was alone that day on a panel of senior regulators and energy officials.  My picture in the New York Times the next day captured the puzzled looks of my more important panelists as I failed to support the consensus that nothing was wrong.  

The much awaited hearing in the Senate Utilities, Energy and Communications Committee this morning was largely a dud, but it offered some key admissions by the utilities and energy regulators.
 
Despite widespread warnings to the contrary, in the report issued by energy regulators and So Cal Gas that was the subject of the hearing, there will be no blackouts this summer due to Aliso's closure.  
 

At 9:30 AM on Tuesday the California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee will examine whether So Cal Gas and state energy regulators rigged a report claiming there would be blackouts in LA if Aliso Canyon's natural gas storage stays off line.
 
The hearings have the potential to pull the curtain back on who really wrote the report (So Cal Gas?)  and whether the public was misled.