http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16641 But Davis was the sitting lieutenant governor when deregulation was adopted in 1996 and there's no record of as much as a contrary hiccup coming from him at the time. Indeed, two years later when consumer-backed Prop. 9 aimed at reversing much of the deregulation fiasco, Gray Davis, allied with the utility monopolies, signed the ballot statement opposing the measure.
Once the power shortage hit in late 2000, Davis as governor was irresponsibly slow to respond, no doubt distracted by his voracious fund-raising. He threatened to seize the power grid, but that bold position soon melted into conciliation with the energy behemoths, at one point Davis employing the same spinmeisters that that were in the pay of Edison. Remember Lehane and Fabiani?
The result? Weighing down the state with over-priced long-term energy contracts, Davis thereby contributed maybe as much as $10 billion to the deficit black hole.