September 2002

British Energy’s Financial Woes

For anyone interested in the financial difficulties at British Energy, and the dilemma facing the government in thinking of bailing them out, this Financial Times article gives a nice summary of the issues. Bottom line: government-driven nuclear investments and the inability to predict the future. And people complain about market processes? Please.

Warren Zevon

I share the comments of Virginia Postrel, Jim Henley, and others who are very, very sad to hear of Warren Zevon’s illness. I think that Virginia’s right, that some of his allure is a dark intellectual geek hipness, and that he’s also wry and clever and whimsical. His best-of 2-CD set is always in our …

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California Puc Study Of 2000-2001 Blackouts Adds Little Substance

On Tuesday 17 September, the California Public Utilities Commission released a study indicating that the five largest private generators in the California wholesale market did not produce up to their capacity during the winter 2000-2001. Looking at 38 blackout days between November 2000 and May 2001, the PUC study concludes that because of this lack …

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Jet Lag

Woo hoo! Vacation was fun, lots of stuff happened here in electricity and oil while I was gone. Lots of catching up … which I started at 5 this morning. Aaah, jet lag!

Goin’ on Vacation

GOIN’ ON VACATION: My husband and I are attending a friend’s wedding in London this coming weekend, and are making a vacation of it. Periodic updates if interesting things happen.