Palm Springs may be a sunny winter haven but the temperatures can get chilly at nightand local Red Cross officials found themselves delivering blankets to some residents yesterday. All the publicity, however, appears to have flipped a switch at Edison. This morning the utility decided NOT to send Thousand Oaks that overtime repair bill. Near-bankruptcy or not, they'll work overtime to keep the lights on, even on the weekends. I'm Sarah Gardner for Marketplace.
Botched deregulation is seen as one of the reasons behind the California power crisis.
Utility deregulation of a different kind will be examined by the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed today to hear a case involving telephone companies. Five years ago, Congress ordered phone companies to share local lines with competitors, but just how much they can charge competitors to use the lines has been tied up in court ever since. President Bush today named the Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, to chair the Federal Communications Commission. The younger Powell's been on the FCC since 1997 and was chief of staff at the Justice Department's antitrust division. If you believe the Index of Leading Economic Indicators, things could be slow come summer time.