For one thing, one of the few benefits of having the coal industry in West Virginia is that energy consumers in this state pay the ninth-lowest electricity rate in the nation. That s why, when the state legislature endorsed the concept of deregulation last year, it insisted that the plan be submitted to the legislature again this year for final approval. But the biggest break for consumers and environmentalists and other opponents of deregulation has been the alarm bell set off by the disaster in California, and the object lessons people are taking from that experience. Reports are that deregulation plans are either on hold or are being reconsidered in a number of states. Our new Democratic governor, Bob Wise, has indicated that he wants to move slowly on this issue in the wake of the California situation.
Legislators are also likely to be more wary.
It s unfortunate that California, with one of the most environmentally conscious populations in America, has to endure the hardships that have come with being the pioneer in deregulation. Yet it is providing a genuine service to the rest of the country by virtue of the problems that are being exposed. And we know that, in four of the last six months, energy use in the state was actually less than last year, so it is not a pattern of increased use that is causing the shortages, as the utilities originally claimed. And we know something else about the new president.