Is San Diego insulated from the high prices in the summer of 2001?
Yes, to a degree. The Legislature froze SDG&Es retail customers rates at 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour until 2003. SDG&E, however, has still failed to lock in fixed price wholesale power contracts, and the utility will still face volatile prices from the wholesale spot markets if it does not enter into longer-term contracts. Given the widely held view that wholesale prices will remain high through the periods of high demand, including next summer, the question now becomes whether or not SDG&E will be proactive in avoiding spot market prices when anticipating the end to its second rate freeze.
