Bart, I believe that you will find that the problems in California stems from their deregulation bill which forbids the utility companies to pass increased costs along to the consumers.
So as the price of fuel increased, the utileties profits shrank and have now reached the point where it costs them more to produce the power than they are allowed to charge for it.
No business can survive under these circumstances, whether large or small.
I don't know who pushed the deregulation bill with its obvious flaw but I seriously doubt that any corporation would back such a thing.

troll