Message-ID: <32867112.1075848059126.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 05:56:00 -0800 (PST) From: mark.schroeder@enron.com To: steven.kean@enron.com, richard.shapiro@enron.com, james.steffes@enron.com, jeff.dasovich@enron.com, margaret.carson@enron.com, rob.bradley@enron.com, govt.affairs@enron.com, nicholas.o'day@enron.com Subject: Benefits of competition in electricity Cc: john.sherriff@enron.com, joseph.hirl@enron.com, paul.mead@enron.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bcc: john.sherriff@enron.com, joseph.hirl@enron.com, paul.mead@enron.com X-From: Mark Schroeder X-To: Steven J Kean, Richard Shapiro, James D Steffes, Jeff Dasovich, Margaret Carson, Rob Bradley, govt affairs, Nicholas O'Day X-cc: John Sherriff, Joseph P Hirl, Paul Mead X-bcc: X-Folder: \Steven_Kean_June2001_3\Notes Folders\California X-Origin: KEAN-S X-FileName: skean.nsf As we all deal with the fallout from the California scene, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the recent report of the UK's National Audit Office (a highly creible organisation, along the lines of the US's General Accounting Office, even similar function; independent, too), saying that household electricity bills had been cut by 750 million pounds (if you are a Yank, multiply by 1.5 for dollars saved), since the industry was opened to competition two years ago. Of course, much of this may be attributable to the divestment of assets in the oligopolistic generation sector, now competitive, but it is a very fari example of the benefits of competition and should be cited as a counterweight to those arguing that competition is a "failed experiment". Paul Dawson, head of our UK regulatory team, can provide any necessary further insights./details. mcs