The companies say they have not been paid for power delivered to the utility since November. The state is under no power alerts as reserves stay above 7 percent. Davis will lobby legislative leaders on Monday, Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats Tuesday, and Senate Democrats Wednesday to support his agreement to purchase Southern California Edison's power transmission lines as a way of helping the company pay off its debt. CalEnergy has already been granted the right to break its contract with Edison and sell power on the open market. The state Senate starts hearings April 18 in its inquiry into allegations that electricity suppliers illegally withheld power to drive up California's wholesale prices.
Wholesalers deny such accusations.
High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission glitches and a tight supply worsened by scarce hydroelectric power in the Northwest and maintenance at aging California power plants are all factors in California's electricity crisis. Electricity and natural gas suppliers, scared off by the two companies' poor credit ratings, are refusing to sell to them, leading the state in January to start buying power for the utilities' nearly 9 million residential and business customers. Even before those increases, California residents paid some of the highest prices in the nation for electricity. Federal statistics from October show residential customers in California paid an average of 10.7 cents per kilowatt hour, or 26 percent more than the nationwide average of 8.5 cents. Only customers in New England, New York, Alaska and Hawaii paid more.