One of the biggest success stories during California's energy crunch has been the city of Los Angeles. Despite the state's energy crisis, the city has won IXL's $40 million Internet consulting office, MSC Software's $30 million investment and Wedbush Morgan Securities' $26 million headquarters operation since September 2000, as well as a host of entertainment industry investments.
      The secret to its success is in part due to the city's energy reliability and costs. The Kosmont study shows that Los Angeles's utility consumption costs and utility user tax have increased only 1 percent, and yearly average electric costs in the city have not increased any. This combination pushed the city from 14th place to the third-most affordable community out of the 17 communities in Los Angeles County.
      "Our energy situation has given us a competitive advantage," Jeff Walden, director of the L.A. Business Team, told the local business journal. "I think both short term and long term it's a benefit."
      Los Angeles is able to keep its rates down because, unlike many of the cities studied by Kosmont, it operates its own utility. "Los Angeles is the clear hero of the energy crisis here because they are the masters of their own fate in that they have a municipal-owned utility with a power source," Kosmont says. "Their supply exceeds their demand in the city limits, so there is no reason for a price increase. They're the poster-child of supply and demand right now."