San Antonio Express-News

After having to scrounge for enough electricity to keep the lights on this year, this state could find itself stuck with a big – and costly – surplus of power over the next decade, a California analysis says.

Ratepayers could find themselves paying as much as $3.9 billion for the unused electricity, according to the analysis.

The state this year signed long-term contracts to buy power at high prices in an emergency effort to stabilize the market and keep electricity flowing. But electricity demand has fallen, in part because of conservation, and prices have dropped, too.

“It’s sort of the final absurdity of the California energy crisis,” said Doug Heller of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.