A Lesson from Wil Wright

I assume just about everyone on this campus knows of the rather famous computer game, Sim City. I'd even wager mostly everyone here has played it. So let me throw out a little question to everyone out there: what do you do when you aren't generating enough power? Would you let your population explode over the course of ten Sim-years and watch massive power outages show up. Or, would you be wise enough to build additional power plants as the population skyrocketed and large amounts of new businesses entered your city?

Well, the answer to the above probably determined if your city became successful or if it became the target of Bowser/Godzilla depending on which version of the game you were playing. Apparently, if the last few governors of California were playing the game the monsters would have eaten them. Hence, we run into one of the causes of the California power crisis.

Yes, the basic understanding of needing more power when the population of your state increases over three point three million in ten years and the number of tech companies in your state grows exponentially apparently has escaped the state legislature. One must wonder if this whole crisis could be averted if we raised enough money to send every member of the government a copy of Sim City.

Besides this problem, there is the entire economic factor in play here, which is probably more responsible for the crisis than anything. Contrary to popular belief that all businesses have limitless money, power companies do have to make a profit to stay in business. Anyone who's taken economics should understand the rules of supply and demand. As the demand increases, if the supply stays the same, the price increases.

In this case, however, the California legislature decided that they would not allow the power companies to pass the price increase off to the customers. Put simply, this is how to kill a business. No business can survive if they sell their product below what they pay for it. That isn't "robbery from the rich;" it's the law of the business world.

Despite warnings, Governor Davis refuses to take action and correct the problem. Now, let's not blame just him: the previous governor was the one responsible for passing the deregulation laws. However, Davis has so far refused to take any action, except to dip into the state's coffers and pay ridiculous sums of money for power they could be producing themselves at a much cheaper cost.

What amuses me is that Davis complains about the price he's paying for electricity from these sellers. Well, Governor Davis, if you hadn't let your state get in the situation it's in right now then you wouldn't be at the mercy of these people! I'm not justifying companies that engage in these practices, but the only reason they can charge that much is because they are allowed to.

President Bush believes that others should not get involved in California's problems, but has begun the process of trying to increase the supply side of the market to account for the rising demand. To do that, he has proposed increasing the amount of nuclear power plants and tapping the natural gas and oil reserves of California.

As far as nuclear power goes, I'm not its biggest fan. It's clean, it's safer than it used to be, but it's still a danger and it still leaves waste that must be disposed of. Going into Alaska is going to freak out the environmentalists of this country more than a fur coat sale at J.C. Penny's. Still, pumping natural gas is a relatively safe and clean process that does not affect the environment of the area too much. Oil, on the other hand, probably will.

I'm a mild environmentalist, and I would like to keep the area as protected as possible. However, if safe methods of extracting the oil can be used, then I'm in favor of it. For one, it will help lower the ridiculously high price of gasoline. Second, it would help solve the current crisis. Can it be done? I'm quite sure it can. It's just a matter of making sure the ones who do it take proper precautions.

This problem is becoming a concern for the entire country. Many states decided to follow California's example, so you too may be in for rolling blackouts in the near future. There are already warnings we could be experiencing them in this very state this summer. It is my hope that we will solve this crisis as soon as possible by understanding the problem and correcting it. Then again, maybe it's just me, but I find the idea of watching Bowser smashing Hollywood quite amusing.