Dear Editor,

Re: BC Hydro's $265 million lawsuit loss in California.

Give me a break... A USA court would never in a thousand years rule against California in favour of B.C., no matter what the evidence.

California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2000 deregulated its energy market and mismanaged the whole thing into catastrophic failure. This caused a severe shortage of energy, resulting in rolling blackouts/brownouts plus severe price spikes in electricity.

Powerex is a BC Hydro subsidiary company established to buy and sell energy (including natural gas) on the open market to the best benefit for BC Hydro.

In other words, it is to buy imported power low, and sell BC Hydro's power at a higher rate, via the grid and pipelines.

This function is similar to an investment fund manager whose job it is to invest funds and buy and sell financial instruments, to reap the largest rewards for the fund.

Powerex has nothing to do with politics, and it matters not what political party is in power.

Electricity was/is bought and sold on the open market, with prices fluxing on a supply/demand basis. Powerex sold California power that it wanted at the time it needed it. California wasn't forced to buy the power, it chose to buy at high prices.

California (Governor Gray Davis) was the author of its own problems, as it decided to listen to the eco-saviours and go green. It thought it could rely on alternate wind and solar energy.

California:

- banned any more nuclear energy. Diablo Canyon (originally approved for four reactors) has only two reactors and space for two more, but won't allow the last two to be installed. That alone could have averted blackouts.

- banned all coal energy, then hypocritically installed transmission lines all the way to Wyoming to import electricity generated from coal while pretending to be green.

They bungled it, and they paid the price.

Lose money on the stock market, then whine like a bunch of crybabies and get a court to reverse it? Let's have a Canadian court decide: Canucks vs Ducks, double or nothing at Rogers arena!

Roland Seguin, Langley