71.   Selling the electricity thus generated would make the project almost pay for itself, Dodd said.

72.   Some power generators have been reluctant to sell electricity in California because of the crisis, and this deal should help ease their concerns, Bryson said.

73.   Some utilities said that last year when wholesale prices spiked they sold electricity to other utilities at below market rates.

74.   Southern consists of traditional power companies such as Georgia Power, which sell electricity on a regulated basis.

75.   Some residents question whether there was ever a crisis, saying they believe the energy shortage was manufactured by the power suppliers that sell electricity to the state.

76.   Southern then will provide Brazos with enough electricity to meet its needs and sell surplus electricity in wholesale markets at a profit.

77.   Still, companies that want to sell electricity should have their own access to power lines, Skilling said.

78.   That, in turn, has put a financial bind on the federal agencies that sell electricity produced by the dams.

79.   That will allow oil and natural gas companies to sell electricity directly to consumers for the first time.

80.   The authority would sell electricity only within California and at a small margin above the cost of producing it.