Power Blackout in Western States

Re “Outage Raises Concerns About Energy Demands,” Aug. 12:

The massive power outage suffered by the Western United States was a precursor to the power outages coming in the future. This will be due to the deregulation of the electric power utilities.

The Public Utilities Commission of California and PUCs of many other states will deregulate the electric utilities. The result of this deregulation will be a fight by utilities for electric-user customers.

In order for utilities to compete with other utilities they must sell power cheaper than other utilities. Cheaper in not always better. Dependable is better.

To reduce rates, utilities will need to lay off workers, cut corners, reduce maintenance and put off the replacement of aging and outdated generators and transmission lines. Our present efficient, first-class utilities will become substandard hulks. A monument to the all-knowing and all-powerful PUC.

Oh, power will be cheaper, when you can get it. Power outages, blackouts and brownouts will be as common as fleas on a dog.

It is only a matter of time before the so-called utility monopolies will be a thing of the past, as will our source of dependable energy.

Sometimes monopolies are good but don’t try telling that to our PUCs. They always know better.

EMMETT SCHOEBERL

Agoura Hills

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* Birds fly into airplane engines, trees endanger power lines, earthquakes quake. Seems nature has the last word.

ELIZABETH LANGMORE

Placentia

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* Re “A Glitch in the System,” Aug. 14: While you may be correct in asserting that the public demands technical infallibility, you are most certainly incorrect in saying engineers promise it. Although we sometimes speak soothingly just to shut you guys up so we can get on with the job, we engineers know and accept the fact that perfection is not attainable in this universe.

In this we mirror the press, who routinely deal in mangled “factoids” such as your leadoff reference to the Boeing 767 running out of fuel. That incident was not caused by the pilots being “misled by the complex gauges” but resulted from human error in translating units of measure when ordering and receiving fuel. A multicultural error, we might say.

JOHN WILSON

Rosamond

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* Seven states were all plugged into one socket. Didn’t we learn anything from “Green Acres”?

LORENE KLETT

Palos Verdes Estates