While the utilities were forced to pay whatever price was asked for the power, they were limited by state regulation on how much they could charge customers for this power. Since the companies were forced to pay much more for the power than they could collect for the power, both firms have initiated bankruptcy proceedings, and the suppliers are loth to provide additional power. The lights may soon go out on the west coast. The Future of the Electric Industry With the electrical industry's currently questionable reliability, the system seems to be gravitating toward entropy. Many of the orders will not be filled until 2002 with a target date of 2004 before going on line.
Transmission lines are another story.
We believe that the millions currently being spent on constructing new power plants are going into obsolete technology. An unexpected power loss could cost them millions. The majority of American industry is still being held hostage to the questionable reliability of the nation's utilities. The power company which can offer this reliable power will have more customers than it can handle. Although a UPS power system will allow for a limited down-load time, the computers will be down for the duration of the power outage.