The introduction of an open market in electricity in California has been delayed from 1 Jan 1998 until 31 March as a result of problems with the computer systems that will be used to operate and police the market.
The delay was announced by the Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange, the two organizations created to run the system. The chief executive of the Independent System Operator claimed that the original deadline was a politically determined date. A more realistic deadline, he suggested, would have been 1 January 1999 or a date in 2000.
Setting up the deregulation network is expected to cost $315 million, including $130 million spent on computer software and on staff to run the operation. Part of the problem responsible for the delay is the incompatibility between the software developed by the Independent System Operator and that being set up the the Power Exchange. The two companies hired different software contractors and it became apparent last summer that the systems would not work together.
One of the contractors was then asked to build software to connect the systems. This was delivered on 9 December, too late to test for the original deadline.
The delay will cause financial problems for the Power Exchange, which is close to running out of money, although the 1996 deregulation legislation in California does provide for additional funding if necessary.