Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

By STEVE LAWRENCE
.c The Associated Press

 
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - West Coast governors have urged residents to cut their electricity use by as much 10 percent while federal, state and corporate officials try to solve the region's power crisis.

The secretaries of the U.S. Energy and Treasury departments were expected to meet Saturday with the chief executives of California's two largest utilities and several state officials by video conference to discuss proposals, The New York Times reported.

Wholesale power prices have increased fivefold in California since last summer, accompanied by a series of drops in the state's power reserves due partly to power plants being down for maintenance.

On Thursday, power reserves in California dipped below 2 percent after a storm cut production at a key nuclear power plant.

The Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state's power grid, said electricity supplies had rebounded from the Stage 3 emergency by Friday but were still tight.

Govs. Gray Davis of California, John Kitzhaber of Oregon and Gary Locke of Washington said Friday that they would urge their residents to cut electricity demand 7 to 10 percent, try to reduce power use by their state governments by at least 10 percent, and look into joining forces to buy energy-efficient products for state and local agencies to get through the crisis.

Davis and California's two largest investor-owned utilities have pointed fingers at energy wholesalers, saying they have exacerbated the crisis by taking advantage of the tight supplies for their own profit.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison say they have lost more than $9 billion because of wholesale price increases and the state's 1996 deregulation law that froze rate hikes. The utilities, which won permission to raise rates, said the temporary increases approved by the Public Utilities Commission weren't enough and have warned they could go bankrupt if something isn't done.

Davis, Kitzhaber and Locke said in a written statement that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should impose immediate wholesale price controls.

``The federal government must take up its responsibility to prevent the chaos that threatens to engulf the entire western electricity system,'' the governors said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she would propose legislation to give the U.S. energy secretary authority to cap skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices in 11 western states. It would let the secretary impose a temporary wholesale price cap if there is ``unjust pricing'' and would remain in effect until prices stabilized, said Howard Gantman, the senator's spokesman.

``We think people will listen to this,'' Gantman said. ``People in other states are realizing that how California goes, so goes the West.''

California officials have also been attempting to negotiate arrangements for the state to buy power under multiyear contracts at rates it considers acceptable. The Times cited unnamed participants in the meetings as saying they hoped to have contracts signed by the end of the month for periods up to 15 years.

Davis released a letter Friday to U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson spelling out how California would cut electricity use during peak periods by at least 5 percent by Tuesday.

Among the steps: shutting off lights and ventilation systems in state buildings after work hours, interrupting pumping by the State Water Project and an ``aggressive public outreach campaign'' to cut electricity use among the general public.

Five other Western governors, meanwhile, criticized California's efforts to solve its energy woes, saying the state must step up efforts to produce more regional power.

``California is not an electrical island,'' the governors of Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Utah and Wyoming wrote in a Friday letter to Davis.

On the Net:

Find California power alerts at www.caiso.com

Read the Assembly legislation, ABX5 and ABX6. at www.leginfo.ca.gov