There is no shortage of electrical power in California. What we have is a surplus of greed. Does anyone really believe that in the short time deregulation has been in effect that demand increased to such an extent that these out-of-state power companies like Dynegy, NRG Energy, Enron, Reliant, etc. could double and triple their profit margins? If so, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. I read that a partnership of Dynegy and NRG Energy paid four times the book value for the Carlsbad power plant. They obviously expected to make a killing off deregulation.The same thing happened in England when Margaret Thatcher deregulated the power industry there. The companies collude with one another and withhold power at times of peak usage, driving the prices sky high and then they sell.Like the unprofitable investments of utility companies in nuclear power plants, like the Savings and Loan debacle, like the bailout of corporations and foreign countries, the ones that finally pick up the tab will be consumers and taxpayers, not the capitalists actually responsible for the crisis.I believe that a rolling blackout could have great therapeutic value for all those conservative Republicans who believe that the market solves everything. They could be watching their favorite right-wing talk show when they are plunged into complete darkness. It would give them time to reflect on their ideology and perhaps consider all the Third World people who have given up their lives protesting the privatization and deregulation forcibly imposed on them by the IMF and World Bank.Gary Sudborough

Resident

Bellflower, Calif.