This was accomplished largely by meeting its energy requirements with a mix of native generation, and trades and purchases. California is now moving to restore a mutually beneficial and cooperative approach. Over a 2 year timeframe, California's investor-owned utilities sold 18,393 MW worth of fossil and renewable generating facilities. They now generate power that is sold into the current market at considerably higher prices. The market is dysfunctional.
Wholesale prices bear no relation to the cost of production, demand or time of use.
The very power the utilities once owned and controlled is now sold on the wholesale market to meet virtually the same demand. Spot market wholesale trading should be used to meet electricity demand on the margin only as part of a mix of resources relied on to meet requirements. But nothing in California's deregulation experiment limited reliance on the spot market to meet any demand, including baseload. California is now moving to permanently reduce its exposure to the wholesale markets. I believe policy-makers at the time should have taken a more measured approach to authorizing the divestiture of native generation.