My first reaction to the approval of MEC was the sheer ignorance encapsulated in a statement by commissioner Purnell. He cited a chart from Calpine/Bechtel showing that Santa Clara County generates only 15% of its energy. Well it's a big county, MEC could be miles away and still be in Santa Clara County.

He cited the chart stating that San Diego has almost 100% of in-county generation. However because the chart was contrived by Calpine/Bechtel with their slant, it neglected to mention that the bulk of that 100% comes from a nuclear plant which is very remote from anyone in San Diego. Also the populated areas of San Diego county suffer from a worse transmission system and ability to import power than we do despite this 100% number, they cannot use it all!

This is a classic example of the CEC being hoodwinked by a much more sophisticated power generation company, the same people that ripped off other government agencies such as the ISO and the DWR over pricing.

see http://www.capitolalert.com/news/capalert07_20010923.html
for some interesting stories of manipulation by generators Williams and Enron.