Comment: Re:I guess it depends (Score 2) 595
Wilson deregulated the *generation* of electricity in California- The only portion of a regulated utilities' electric bill that the utilities were *not* allowed to profit from. The system was begging to be gamed by those who bought up the power plants. On top of that, he took the private, cooperative operation of the transmission grid and handed it over to a state-run agency (CAL-ISO). Have you ever heard of a state agency doing anything efficiently?
As for Rancho Seco- That plant was a meltdown waiting to happen. Bad engineering and even worse management. A little utility like SMUD had no business being in the nuclear generation game in the first place. We are still paying for that nightmare in our bills every month.
And the Kings- They are a failure economically because Sacramento's main industry is Government. For as over-funded as most of our state agencies are, they are not allowed to buy sky boxes or court-side seats. There is not a single Fortune 500 company headquartered within 50 miles of the state capitol. When your 3 largest private employers in town are hospitals (feeding off the very generous health care benefits that government employees receive), you know you are in trouble. I wish KJ would put the energy that he is putting in to keeping the Kings in to fostering a better business climate for companies to grow here. Just look at the SF Bay Area- 8 million people and 6 professional franchises (7 if you count MLS). The greater Sacramento area has 2 million people and we are about to lose our *only* professional franchise because we can't sell sky boxes/premium seats at a rate that would justify building a new arena around them.