But water and power don't balance each other out when it comes to revenue. When the secession movement started a few years ago, rosy pictures were easy to draw. There were explanations for declining services, but no one addressed the sense of alienation and the belief that someone else was getting a bigger piece of the pie. The problem, of course, with comparing the Valley to Malibu and West Hollywood is that they were never part of Los Angeles. Laws have been changed in Sacramento to make secession more feasible, but even so, the Valley, Harbor area and Hollywood would have to go through a process of disconnecting from Los Angeles that these incorporating cities did not face.
Electricity is a case in point.
The only thing that can be said with certainty about the state's energy crisis is that the solution is unknown. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.