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Sac Bee, Mon, 5/14: "Energy crisis creates cadre of tattletales" Sac Bee, Mon, 5/14: "Dan Walters: Lawyers and business still have=20 plenty of energy for their battle"=20 Sac Bee, Mon, 5/14: "Utilities are headed down troubling path:=20 The expansion frenzy may eventually lead to consolidation into a few super-giant energy companies for all of the United States,=20 Canada and Mexico" (Editorial) SD Union, Sun, 5/13: "Boom Days on the Plains" SD Union, Sun, 5/13: "Summer blackout forecasts still hazy" SD Union, Sun, 5/13: "Energy companies controlled market, state panel claims" LA Times, Mon, 5/14: "Communities Fighting $270-Million Power Line" LA Times, Sun, 5/13: "Bush Tax Incentives Fuel Plan on Energy" SF Chron, Mon, 5/14: "State buffer on blackouts near limit=20 Program that lets big businesses curb energy use almost exhausted " SF Chron (AP), Mon, 5/14: "Natural gas giant says state subcommittee repor= t=20 is flawed" SF Chron, Mon, 5/14: "SAN FRANCISCO=20 S.F. stoplights to get more efficient bulbs" SF Chron, Mon, 5/14: "Davis urges Bush to cap "obscene' power prices" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "Group seeks tax credit for energy-efficient offices= =20 'High-performance' buildings called vital" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "Natural gas price squeeze=20 Report says supplier manipulated market" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "Energy firms investing at full throttle" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "ENERGY CRUNCH=20 Conservation inches up Bush energy agenda" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "Ghost town is gateway to much of state's natural gas= =20 A major energy lifeline is a pipeline from Arizona" SF Chron, Sun, 5/13: "How Texas firm outfoxed state, PG&E" Mercury News, Mon, 5/14: "Big companies raising the roof as state consider= s=20 raising their rates" Mercury News, Mon, 5/14: "Regulators' rate increase is too much, Davis say= s" Mercury News (AP), Mon, 5/14: "California power regulators to decide how t= o=20 allocate rate hikes" Mercury News (AP), Mon, 5/14: "Bush energy plan offers no short-term fixes= " OC Register, Mon, 5/14: "Power crunch at top of worry list" Energy Insight, Mon, 5/14: "Gas use for power generation leveled out in 20= 00" NY Times, Mon, 5/14: "Blackout Plans of Little Help In California's Energy= =20 Crisis" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= --- -------------------------------- Energy crisis creates cadre of tattletales By Carrie Peyton Bee Staff Writer (Published May 14, 2001)=20 An energy-thrifty cadre eager to conserve every kilowatt has targeted a new= =20 field for electricity savings: the other guy.=20 In the war against power waste, people have been manning the phones and=20 blasting out e-mails to utilities, state agencies and newspapers.=20 Why are fountains bubbling, school air conditioners thrumming at night, sto= re=20 lights blazing, pool heaters firing, and Marines getting unmetered=20 electricity?=20 For Anne Miller, the breaking point came on a sweltering Monday night.=20 "That first day of the rolling blackouts when the heat hit, when I went to= =20 bed I looked at the thermostat and it said it was 90 degrees in my house."= =20 Miller didn't want to squander electricity by switching on the air=20 conditioning in her Gold River home, but she wanted to sleep comfortably.= =20 "I turned on the fan and had the windows open, and I lay there and listened= =20 to all the air conditioners running," she recalled, "I thought, what's the= =20 point?"=20 Miller toughed it out, but later sent off a thoughtful e-mail to the=20 Sacramento Municipal Utility District, asking what good any one person's=20 efforts can do.=20 Others are much angrier.=20 One anonymous caller to The Bee spat out a list of Roseville-area apartment= =20 complexes and housing developments with heated pools, saying "this is a=20 ridiculous thing."=20 "The newspapers ought to get a hold of this, go take pictures and force the= se=20 people to turn off their power so others can have necessary electricity."= =20 An east Sacramento man wants a crackdown on a neighborhood school that runs= =20 air conditioners on weekends when no students are in sight.=20 A Cool resident wants the Marine Corps to start metering electricity in=20 officers' housing on its bases.=20 An Elk Grove letter carrier is furious when she drops off a package at a=20 household where cranked-up air conditioning comes blasting out the door.=20 Countless callers to the state Energy Commission and SMUD want them to shut= =20 down lighted billboards, golf course fountains, the empty but well-lit=20 Montgomery Ward store on El Camino Avenue, and even their neighbors' porch= =20 lights.=20 You could call this the work of energy snitches. Or you could call it the= =20 voice of a new ethic.=20 "It is fascinating that there is some kind of moral dimension to this whole= =20 thing," said Bruce Hackett, a professor emeritus of sociology at the=20 University of California, Davis.=20 "There are certain kinds of things, and the blackouts are one of them =01( = when=20 what seems like a matter of individual preference becomes a social, and in= =20 fact, really a moral issue," he said.=20 It reminds Hackett of his childhood days during World War II, when he would= =20 hear his parents complaining about neighbors who didn't put up their blacko= ut=20 shades or recycle their tin cans and household fat.=20 Mithra Moezzi, a scientist, also is reminded of a war-era conservation ethi= c.=20 "A lot of that involves people ratting each other out or just complaining,"= =20 she said.=20 Moezzi empathizes with the frustration of some energy tattlers, pointing ou= t=20 that in a time of shortage, electricity is something we all use in common.= =20 "Electricity is a shared resource in a lot of ways, even though you pay for= =20 yours," she said. "When it relates to blackouts =01( your use hurts everyon= e=20 else."=20 James Felix, a substitute campus supervisor at Elk Grove schools, has=20 switched from air conditioning to portable fans and tries not to turn on hi= s=20 electric stove before 7 p.m.=20 But what he sees around Sacramento eats at him.=20 "I walked by Oak Park and the baseball field lights are on and nobody's=20 playing. The last three days I drove by Montgomery Ward and all the lights= =20 are on. Ward's is closed. There's not a piece of furniture in there at all,= "=20 he said. "Somebody should notice this and do something about it."=20 Virtually no one monitors California's energy hogs.=20 Gov. Gray Davis issued an emergency order in February making it a misdemean= or=20 for businesses to overuse outdoor lighting after closing time, but the=20 standard it set is subjective, with exceptions for risks to companies'=20 employees or property.=20 The Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which coordinates with local= =20 police and sheriff's offices on enforcing the order, believes in all=20 likelihood no one has been cited, said OES spokeswoman Sheryl Tankersley.= =20 For the most part, the governor's order is being enforced informally by=20 police agencies throughout the state, through speeches to chambers of=20 commerce, impromptu visits to businesses or informational pamphlets, she=20 said.=20 And the order only limits outdoor lights at "retail establishments." There = is=20 nothing illegal about lights outside a school or inside, anywhere. There ar= e=20 no energy police to turn down someone's air conditioner or to tell your=20 neighbor that a pool pump should run overnight instead of during the=20 midday-to-evening peak.=20 "We can't go in and turn off people's porch lights," said Claudia Chandler,= =20 assistant executive director of the state Energy Commission, which has=20 fielded numerous complaints about electricity squandering.=20 "People are getting really grumpy about stores and restaurants leaving the= =20 doors open," especially during Stage 2 or Stage 3 emergencies, she said.=20 Chandler recently wrote an opinion piece for a business newspaper warning= =20 merchants that "consumers know when you're wasting energy and they're alarm= ed=20 by it."=20 Lamps Plus has gotten so many beefs about its lighted-up stores that it=20 refers all media callers to corporate headquarters, where the company's=20 president explains the stores use 7 -watt bulbs in every lamp and consume no=20 more power per square foot than the average household.=20 Some hope all the increased attention could lead to less waste.=20 Energy Commission forecaster Richard Rohrer, who issues monthly estimates o= f=20 conservation efforts, believes Californians have cut back, collectively,=20 about 6 percent in January, 8 percent in February, and 9 percent in March a= nd=20 April compared with last year.=20 But he acknowledges that the numbers are "squishy" and no one knows for sur= e.=20 Officials with the state Independent System Operator, which runs most of=20 California's electric grid, worried aloud last week that people may be=20 getting tired of watching every kilowatt.=20 Davis sociologist Hackett isn't betting on that.=20 He thinks this might be "a new issue being born," one that could evolve, li= ke=20 recycling or second-hand smoke, into a new social standard.=20 "One of the things that people are doing on a widespread basis is that=20 they're noticing the disparity between what is morally called for by the=20 occasion we're in and what people are actually doing," he said.=20 If that disparity becomes grating enough, he said, the power police may not= =20 be far behind.=20 The Bee's Carrie Peyton can be reached at (916) 321-1086 or=20 cpeyton@sacbee.com.=20 Dan Walters: Lawyers and business still have plenty of energy for their=20 battle=20 (Published May 14, 2001)=20 California's energy crisis is so severe, so complicated, so pervasive -- an= d=20 so politically perilous -- that it has blotted almost everything else out o= f=20 the Capitol's collective consciousness.=20 Issues and battles that ordinarily would receive close attention from=20 politicians, the media and others in the Capitol find themselves being=20 largely ignored this year. And a case in point is this year's renewal of th= e=20 perennial political war between lawyers who make their living off personal= =20 injury lawsuits, known as "trial lawyers," and the insurance companies and= =20 corporations who must defend against such suits.=20 The stakes in the personal injury game are immense -- countless billions of= =20 dollars -- and the Legislature, in effect, decides who can sue whom for wha= t,=20 how much can be collected in damages and who pays any judgments.=20 There have been dozens of specific battles between the trial lawyers and=20 their corporate and professional group rivals, who collect themselves under= =20 the rubric of "tort reform." They've touched on such issues as medical=20 malpractice damage limits, tapping "deep pockets" for judgments, "third-par= ty=20 liability" and, most recently, whether insurers can be sued for "bad faith"= =20 handling of claims. The insurers spent tens of millions of dollars to=20 overturn a pro-trial lawyer bill that the Legislature enacted on the latter= =20 issue.=20 When Democrat Gray Davis became governor two years ago, trial lawyers=20 believed that they would start winning again after 16 years of being=20 stonewalled by Republican governors. But they and their lobbyists, despite= =20 making lavish contributions to Democratic campaign treasuries, have fared= =20 poorly. The 1999 and 2000 legislative sessions saw the lawyers gain just on= e=20 significant measure, the aforementioned "bad faith" bill. And it was watere= d=20 down so much -- principally by eliminating business lawsuits from its=20 provisions -- that the insurance industry could easily muster the money to= =20 overturn it at the polls while trial lawyers mounted only a token defense.= =20 The trial lawyers' lobbying arm, Consumer Attorneys of California, is wrack= ed=20 by internal dissension over its recent failures. Its lobbyists are hungry f= or=20 a major political victory that will justify the tens of millions of dollars= =20 they've directed into Democrats' campaign coffers. The lawyers have several= =20 measures moving this year, but the centerpiece of their lobbying drive is= =20 legislation that, if enacted, would wipe out the secrecy that now attaches = to=20 information acquired during the discovery phase of a lawsuit or is containe= d=20 in confidential, out-of-court settlements.=20 Lawyers say the secrecy covers up corporate wrongdoing; corporations and=20 insurers say that if enacted, the legislation would force trade secrets to = be=20 revealed and allow lawyers to file more suits. The public arguments aside,= =20 however, it's another fierce firefight in the tort wars. And while Davis'= =20 preferences are unknown, the lawyers have strong backing from another major= =20 Democratic politician, Attorney General Bill Lockyer.=20 Privately, the lawyers' lobbyists say they want to move quickly this year n= ot=20 only because they need a win, but also because they believe the public/medi= a=20 climate is more favorable because of the publicity attached to the recall o= f=20 defective Firestone tires and the popular "Erin Brockovich" movie that=20 focused on a woman's legal crusade against one corporation.=20 Ironically enough, the corporation that was depicted as the villain in the= =20 movie was Pacific Gas and Electric, which has since filed for bankruptcy=20 protection because of the energy crisis that preoccupies the Capitol. And t= o=20 compound the irony, Davis is claiming the same sort of trade secrecy on pow= er=20 purchases that the trial lawyers would have him overturn.=20 Will the trial lawyers finally win a big one? And even if they prevail in t= he=20 Capitol, will Silicon Valley and other corporate interests spend tens of=20 millions of dollars to overturn a new anti-secrecy law via the ballot? The= =20 only certainty is that regardless of what happens to this measure, the=20 Capitol's tort wars will continue.=20 The Bee's Dan Walters can be reached at (916) 321-1195 or dwalters@sacbee.c= om .=20 Utilities are headed down troubling path: The expansion frenzy may eventual= ly=20 lead to consolidation into a few super-giant energy companies for all of th= e=20 United States, Canada and Mexico. By James B. McClatchy (Published May 14, 2001)=20 If privately owned utilities have their way, their expansion frenzy of rece= nt=20 years will probably lead to a consolidation of ownership of electrical=20 generating and transmission lines into a few super-giant energy companies f= or=20 all of the United States, Canada and maybe Mexico.=20 Their vision of what this would give them in the political and financial li= fe=20 of these countries is breathtaking in its scope and boldness. Growth and=20 business issues dominate their thinking, and have since the electrical=20 industry began to form in the years just before 1900. What a greater golden= =20 goal than to be the electricity kings of America?=20 The first private generating companies were small and inefficient. As time= =20 went by, utility management became professional, and engineering improvemen= ts=20 made them financial and political powerhouses. New York financial groups=20 became dominant in the industry, smothering or buying up competitors. Fraud= =20 and violation of securities laws were common, as was the overcharging of=20 customers. High rates gave them giant profits. Corruption of public officia= ls=20 was wholesale, finally becoming so grossly visible that private citizen=20 groups arose, demanding the right to organize publicly and locally owned=20 utilities.=20 This was the birth of the public-power movement. The disregard for honest= =20 business practices and the public welfare, the venality, the threat to basi= c=20 democratic values finally collapsed the structures those bandits created.= =20 J.P. Morgan and Samuel Insull were the linchpins with holding companies tha= t=20 owned most of the big utility companies in the United States. They used the= ir=20 vast power to squash opposition, and the two of them were on their way to= =20 dominate the electric utility industry in the United States when the Great= =20 Depression arrived. Insull was overextended and his dream of a national=20 monopoly evaporated in bankruptcy, public disgrace and jail for a long list= =20 of major crimes against his fellow citizens. Morgan survived.=20 The scandals that are being revealed these days in the energy business don'= t=20 have the coarseness of the robber barons of those days. Publicly owned=20 corporations are mixed with a great variety of private ventures into a=20 growing web of interrelated businesses. It is an international mixture, wit= h=20 these conglomerates increasing their size and activities all over the world= .=20 U.S. names in Japan, Japanese names in Europe, German names in Asia, French= =20 names in Latin America.=20 So our own Pacific Gas & Electric -- once the largest utility in the United= =20 States -- is now only a cashless subsidiary of a holding company called PG&= E.=20 The parent company sold off the utility's fossil-fuel generating plants,=20 sucked the cash out of their California subsidiary and has gone on to=20 continue its growth elsewhere.=20 Meanwhile, some old PG&E plants are now owned by Duke Energy, which started= =20 as an electric utility in North Carolina but now operates power plants and= =20 gas pipelines in other states and countries.=20 Where does public power fit into this depressing scene? It is as=20 conservative, American and traditional as apple pie. If it is broadly enoug= h=20 accepted as a solution to the past excesses of utilities dominated by=20 financial institutions, then local ownership -- regional, city and otherwis= e=20 -- could derail or limit the utilities' strategy of dominating an=20 international electricity grid covering the United States, Canada and who= =20 knows where else.=20 Impossible? Not at all. The utilities are run by persons with brilliant=20 minds, big ambitions and appetites for profit, and access to enormous=20 resources of politics, money and ruthlessness. They also have something few= =20 other people have -- vision.=20 But David has a slingshot, if he has the vision to use it.=20 James B. McClatchy is publisher of The McClatchy Co., which owns The=20 Sacramento Bee and other newspapers, and is a lifelong California journalis= t.=20 Boom Days on the Plains=20 Hunt for energy turns to methane-rich Wyoming, unsettling ranchers who fear= =20 for impact on land By Steve Schmidt=20 UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER=20 May 13, 2001=20 SPOTTED HORSE, Wyo. -- William Friday West is 68. Grew up here. Courted his= =20 bride here. Married and had kids here, on a grassy homestead with a=20 bullet-riddled mailbox.=20 He thought he'd seen all a seasoned rancher could see, until some young buc= ks=20 stopped by his weather-beaten ranch house one fall.=20 They had a deal for him, they said. He'd make good money, they said. Just= =20 sign here.=20 He did, and more men came to this hiccup of a town -- drillers and=20 shed-builders and grubby roustabouts with their bulldozers and backhoes and= =20 pickups with out-of-state plates.=20 The nation's desperate hunt for energy begins here as well as anywhere, in= =20 the gullet of rural America, under an old rancher's porch.=20 But the search is also dogged by controversy.=20 Deep under the rolling plains are pools of natural gas so vast they make=20 Arctic oil look like chump bait. Inventors, Texas oilmen, even ex-shoe=20 salesmen are storming northeast Wyoming to suck the methane from waterlogge= d=20 coal beds.=20 Fortunes hang on the new process. Geologists figure that mining just 15=20 percent of the nation's coal-bed methane will produce a trillion-dollar=20 bonanza.=20 Not only that, but hundreds of new power plants planned across the nation,= =20 from New York to Otay Mesa, will need coal-bed fuel and other natural gases= =20 to run.=20 But in Wyoming, many ranchers and conservationists say runoff water from=20 methane mining stunts crops, kills trees and spikes rivers and wells with= =20 high levels of salt.=20 It's reshaping ranch life, too.=20 Much of Wyoming remains remote and raw, a land of wood-paneled roadhouses a= nd=20 cattle amid oceans of alfalfa. Ranchers relish being off the beaten path.= =20 Now it seems like every guy with a drilling rig and a dream is moving in,= =20 erecting power lines and pump sheds and stripping the place of peace.=20 "Everything has changed so much in such a short time," West says. "It's har= d=20 on a person."=20 ?? Even before the energy chaos in California, things were going great guns=20 around Spotted Horse. Most everyone wanted a piece of the gas mining boom.= =20 Now look at it.=20 Drillers and other field workers pack the motels and trailer parks.=20 Once-lonely roadhouses are jumping. Hundreds of miles of new power lines la= ce=20 the oatmeal-colored plains of the sprawling Powder River Basin.=20 "California's hurting real bad so things are going all wacko around here,"= =20 says Randy Frank, 41, who builds pump sheds.=20 Frank struck out for Wyoming last year in his rusty, 1976 Chevy Malibu afte= r=20 selling Kinney Shoes in North Dakota.=20 He lives in a trailer park and clears $700 a week, more than he ever made= =20 peddling high heels.=20 The Powder River boom began about three years ago when the technology was= =20 perfected to extract methane sealed in shallow coal beds. With natural gas= =20 prices near an all-time high, the hunt for coal-bed methane also rages in= =20 Colorado and New Mexico.=20 More than 8,600 wells have been drilled in the river basin, with thousands= =20 more planned. About 80 coal-bed methane companies operate in the region.=20 Many of the companies report fat profits, and some of the nation's largest= =20 energy firms are staking claims in the region.=20 "I don't see how we could be in a better spot," says Steve McNelly, who wor= ks=20 for a methane company, Well Completion of Gillette, Wyo.=20 The state of Wyoming last year projected a $183 million deficit. Now it's= =20 enjoying a $700 million surplus, largely because of royalties from methane.= =20 California's surplus has shriveled in recent months because of the energy= =20 mess.=20 Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer recently told Congress that his state's energy=20 potential is huge. "We have it. America needs it," he said.=20 This is Dick Cheney country to boot. The vice president is from Wyoming. As= a=20 young man, he worked in the backcountry, erecting power lines.=20 Now Cheney chairs President Bush's energy task force. The panel will make= =20 long-range recommendations this week for solving the energy crunch.=20 Critics complain that Bush, a former oilman, is too cozy with the energy=20 industry. Others welcome him, dismissing President Clinton as a tree-hugger= .=20 Wyoming has a history of mining booms, in oil and coal.=20 But this boom, nervous ranchers say, is radically different.=20 ?? To get the gas out, miners must draw water from the coal beds. Each well=20 produces about 12,000 gallons of water a day, much of it high in salt.=20 The impact can be jarring. This spring, runoff water from neighboring wells= =20 flooded William West's ranch, killing creekside Cottonwoods and about 100= =20 acres of hay. Some of the ground sits bare and bleached.=20 "We're extremely worried," says his wife, Marge West. "This water is going = to=20 kill the land."=20 Gary Beach, Wyoming's chief of water quality, says the salty water tends to= =20 destroy the soil's chemical structure. "It starves plants for water," he=20 says.=20 Rancher Ed Swartz says that is what's happening at his homestead. "It just= =20 makes you sick," he says.=20 But coal-bed companies say they often work with landowners to soften the=20 impact. Some pipe the water into man-made ponds. Others inject it back into= =20 the earth.=20 Some ranchers and others welcome the water, saying cattle and other livesto= ck=20 depend on it.=20 "Ninety-five percent of the people around here are tickled to death with=20 this," says John Kennedy, president of Gillette-based Kennedy Oil.=20 Many Wyoming conservationists, however, consider methane mining and the wat= er=20 byproducts the biggest environmental threats to the state in decades.=20 They don't want to kill the boom, but believe businesses and government are= =20 failing to address the hard questions because they're blinded by the bottom= =20 line.=20 In neighboring Montana, officials have placed a moratorium on methane wells= =20 so they can study the risks. Wyoming law doesn't require a similar review.= =20 The boom comes as the demand for natural gas balloons nationwide. Boosting= =20 domestic energy production is also a central plank of the Bush=20 administration.=20 There's talk of developing a pipeline to send the Wyoming gas directly to= =20 California's Central Valley, where several new power plants are planned.=20 Swartz groans at the idea.=20 "I don't see why I should have to sacrifice my ranch to help bail you out o= f=20 a crisis."=20 ?? As a boy, William West rode Shetland ponies on the plains for hours.=20 It was the 1940s. The West homestead, staked out by his father in 1919,=20 didn't have electricity or telephones.=20 Those are West's earliest memories as he sits in his ranch house, eating=20 lunch. Today it's spinach, canned ham, cookies and milk.=20 He wears dirty jeans and black boots. His hair is wispy and gray.=20 His is the life of an American original, the Wyoming homesteader. He keeps= =20 600 head of cattle and grows alfalfa and wheat. While he's never made a min= t=20 doing it, he's made enough to raise three daughters.=20 He drives a mud-caked, 1975 Dodge Ram truck.=20 But when he drives it now, he turns glum. All this runoff water. All these= =20 power poles on his once-bare land. All these miners he hardly knows.=20 "Had we realized there would be these (consequences), we would not have=20 signed a drilling contract so willingly," he says.=20 For their troubles, the Wests receive $10,000 royalty checks about every=20 three months from a drilling outfit. Sweet money after a hardscrabble life.= =20 But even to some supporters of methane mining, that's not much, considering= =20 how it's upending ranch life.=20 "This was a land of solitude. Now there's somebody everywhere you look," sa= ys=20 homesteader Robert Sorenson. "It's a complete loss of a way of life."=20 Complicating things further are Wyoming's homestead laws, in which the=20 federal government sold early settlers the land but not the mineral rights.= =20 Many gas companies obtain rights to the minerals and then give landowners a= =20 share in the profits.=20 Business boosters in Gillette, the region's largest city, believe the=20 trade-offs are worth it. "Agriculture itself does not provide that good a= =20 living in this area," says Susan Bigelow, executive director of the Campbel= l=20 County Economic Development Corp.=20 West's late father thought he'd strike oil some day on the ranch. Never did= .=20 Now his son has helped unleash a new kind of mining as America's energy=20 crisis deepens.=20 He takes pills now. He says it's to lower stress, aggravated by the upheava= l.=20 Dust from the drilling and construction hasn't helped his chronic bronchiti= s=20 either.=20 He'll be 69 in January. He was born in Powder River country, and he figures= =20 he'll die here.=20 "I'd like to go away and see the beach maybe," West says. But this, he adds= ,=20 "is home. .?.?. It's my life."=20 Even as his slice of frontier slips away.=20 "It's just wild out here now. It's a whole new world."=20 Next in the series: The ghost fleet of the Pacific.=20 Summer blackout forecasts still hazy=20 By Karen Kucher=20 UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER=20 May 13, 2001=20 This promises to be a summer of uncertainty.=20 Rolling blackouts pummeled the state twice last week when grid managers cam= e=20 up short on energy supplies, and power was cut off to thousands of business= es=20 and residents.=20 With summer near, everyone is wondering how regular this routine will becom= e.=20 But there are no clear answers.=20 "It is going to be a great soap opera," said consumer advocate Michael=20 Shames. "We are calling this 'our summer of disconnect.'?"=20 Predictions abound. One often-repeated estimate is that the lights will go= =20 out on 30 to 35 days, an educated guess based on last year's consumption=20 levels. One local fire chief said he had heard that blackouts would hit two= =20 to three days a week.=20 But the agency that manages the state's electricity grid has issued no such= =20 estimates.=20 Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operato= r,=20 said blackout predictions are springing up like urban myths, taking on the= =20 ring of truth with repetition.=20 The real truth, she said, is that no one can say how often the lights will = go=20 out or for how long. It depends on the weather, the daily fluctuations in t= he=20 wholesale electricity market, how much conservation takes place and whether= =20 power plants run steadily or suffer mechanical breakdowns.=20 "You can understand the dynamics here," O'Donley said. "We have to play the= =20 cards we are dealt that day, and we will definitely do the best to locate= =20 enough resources and try, but it is going to be a challenge."=20 Grid managers say blackouts are possible on days when consumption exceeds= =20 40,000 megawatts. The state exceeded that level on 34 days last summer.=20 But that measuring stick isn't a strict standard.=20 Just this past week, blackouts were ordered on two days when peak usage was= =20 about 34,000 megawatts. Enough power couldn't be bought to meet demand, and= =20 about one-third of the state's generating capacity was unavailable because = of=20 breakdowns or planned maintenance.=20 California got into this crisis after its 1996 deregulation plan went=20 terribly wrong. The wholesale price of power skyrocketed, and=20 electricity-generating capacity suddenly was inadequate to meet growing=20 demand.=20 Critics of deregulation say electricity suppliers, who have posted huge=20 corporate profits from the higher electricity prices, manipulated the marke= t=20 and made the supply situation worse.=20 Power suppliers say California, which did not build any new generating plan= ts=20 in a dozen years, simply does not have enough supply, a situation they say = is=20 worsened by a reduction in the availability of hydroelectric power from the= =20 Pacific Northwest. The suppliers also say increased demands on California's= =20 aging system of power plants are responsible for the historically high leve= l=20 of facility outages.=20 Shames, who heads the Utility Consumers' Action Network, said he expects=20 power emergencies to be declared all summer long.=20 It wasn't a good sign that just a few days of warm weather pushed the state= =20 beyond its tight energy supplies, he said, adding: "It is pretty clear to m= e=20 that we are going to see through May, June, July and probably into August= =20 almost continual Stage 2 situations. So much of this depends on Mother=20 Nature."=20 On that front, weather forecasters say not to expect any miracles.=20 A statewide 90-day forecast for California says June, July and August shoul= d=20 hit normal summer temperatures.=20 Imperial County, eastern Riverside and eastern San Bernardino counties are= =20 expected to average about half a degree above normal. The average in San=20 Diego and Los Angeles counties and in western Riverside and western San=20 Bernardino counties will be about two-tenths of a degree above normal.=20 While those changes are significant for meteorologists, they probably won't= =20 make much of a difference for most state residents.=20 "You won't be able to feel the difference," said Philip Gonsalves, a=20 meteorologist intern for the National Weather Service. "If you normally set= =20 your thermostat to 72 degrees and you set it at 74, that's a bigger=20 difference than what we are anticipating."=20 The ISO has predicted California will be short nearly 3,700 megawatts next= =20 month, enough to provide power to more than 2.7 million homes.=20 Gov. Gray Davis had hoped to have 5,000 additional megawatts online by July= =20 to help meet that shortfall, but many of those plants have been delayed.=20 The California Energy Commission says 2,100 megawatts of new power generati= on=20 is expected to be online by July, far less than what state officials had=20 wanted. By September, about 5,200 megawatts should be operational.=20 "We are doing everything we can to get new generation online," said Claudia= =20 Chandler, assistant executive director of the commission, which approves ne= w=20 power plants in the state. "It is disappointing to us that all of them won'= t=20 be available earlier in the summer."=20 Chandler said there have been delays in getting emergency peaking facilitie= s=20 built. Peaker plants are small, relatively inefficient plants used only=20 during periods of high electricity demand.=20 "Those applications just didn't come in as early as we needed," Chandler=20 said. "It took a while before we saw the first peaker application come into= =20 the process. .?.?. The good news is we are going to have a problem next=20 summer, too, and all this generation will be ready for next summer's demand= ."=20 Uncertainty about the electricity market has people rearranging the way the= y=20 do business.=20 Scientists at local biotechnology companies put off experiments on days whe= n=20 outages are considered possible, said Joe Panetta, president and chief=20 executive of BioCom, a local biotech trade association.=20 "They are announced, and on the surface they seem to appear to only be a=20 nuisance," he said. "But what we are finding is that you essentially have t= o=20 cease everything that you are doing."=20 Panetta said business leaders have been asking for utilities to provide=20 earlier notification so that staffing adjustments and equipment precautions= =20 can be made.=20 "We are talking a day's notice at least so we have the chance to juggle som= e=20 things around at the companies well in advance," he said.=20 Because of concerns like that, state lawmakers last week discussed planning= =20 daily outages to drive down the price of power and to provide consumers a= =20 more predictable pattern of blackouts. Some suggested that the state=20 institute an odd-even system in which certain blocks of power users face=20 blackouts as often as every other day.=20 For now, residents and companies are being encouraged to prepare for outage= s.=20 Some companies have obtained backup generators so they can keep operating= =20 even during rolling blackouts. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. is reminding=20 people to switch off television sets and computers during blackouts to=20 protect them from surges when power returns.=20 Public safety agencies say they can't do much to prepare for blackouts othe= r=20 than focus on improving communication. San Diego city officials plan to use= =20 e-mail, voice mail and pagers to notify public safety workers and city=20 officials of impending blackouts.=20 "We are educating the city staff, telling them, 'Take out your procedures;= =20 shake them out,'?" said Deputy Fire Chief D.P. Lee, San Diego's emergency= =20 management coordinator.=20 "We are really fine-tuning things to make sure we have all the i's dotted a= nd=20 the t's crossed," Lee said. "Once we are there I'm sure we will make furthe= r=20 refinements.=20 "I'm sure by the end of the summer we will have this down pat." Energy companies controlled market, state panel claims=20 Natural-gas price at prime entry site rose 489 percent By Bill Ainsworth=20 UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER=20 May 13, 2001=20 SACRAMENTO -- An Assembly oversight committee will release a report tomorro= w=20 that blames the astronomical increase in natural-gas prices in California o= n=20 market manipulation by energy companies.=20 From March 2000 through February 2001, the price at a critical market entry= =20 point for natural gas on the Arizona border rose 489 percent, forcing=20 Californians to pay by far the highest natural-gas prices in the nation.=20 The skyrocketing price of natural gas has been felt by many ratepayers in= =20 their utility bills, but it also played a key role in the state's electrici= ty=20 crisis. Many of the state's power plants are fueled by natural gas.=20 In 1999, Californians paid $6.6 billion for natural gas, and a year later= =20 that figure rose to $12.3 billion. In the first three months of 2001,=20 Californians paid $7.9 billion.=20 The committee report, based on two days of hearings last month, said=20 contracts that gave natural-gas marketers control of vast amounts of the El= =20 Paso pipeline -- the key entry point for the state's supplies -- helped pus= h=20 California's gas prices above the national average.=20 The report concluded that El Paso Natural Gas Co. favored its affiliate, El= =20 Paso Merchant Energy, in a deal that allowed the affiliate to control much = of=20 the gas that flows on the pipeline owned by El Paso Natural Gas.=20 The pipeline brings natural gas from the ground in Texas to homes and=20 businesses in California.=20 El Paso Merchant Energy offered to resell gas that it owned, but the=20 committee concluded that it demanded "unreasonably" high prices so it would= =20 have no buyers and thus retain control of a large supply of gas.=20 That control, the report said, helped "artificially inflate border prices"= =20 for natural gas.=20 The report also said El Paso Merchant Energy had every incentive to drive u= p=20 border prices. The company had an ownership interest in 20 "qualifying=20 facilities," which are smaller electricity producers. The price those=20 generators are paid for electricity is tied to the border price of natural= =20 gas.=20 During the hearings, Ralph Eads, president of El Paso Merchant Energy, deni= ed=20 hoarding gas, saying the price for natural gas rose so high because of the= =20 increased demand by electricity producers that use natural gas. Eads and=20 others denied using their corporate ties for a sweetheart deal.=20 Other industry representatives blamed the increase in price on limits on=20 pipeline capacity and lower levels of gas storage.=20 The report rejected those explanations: "The exorbitant prices cannot be=20 defined away by regulators and bureaucrats, or explained away by corporate= =20 lawyers' wordplay. The economic hardship cannot be justified simply by=20 reciting the economic laws of supply and demand."=20 The report recommended that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which= =20 has jurisdiction over natural gas, prohibit deals that allow one marketer t= o=20 control so much pipeline capacity.=20 The report noted that something else besides the price of natural gas soare= d=20 during the past two years: corporate profits for El Paso Merchant Energy. I= n=20 1999, the company earned $3 million before taxes and interest, compared wit= h=20 $563 million in 2000.=20 Communities Fighting $270-Million Power Line=20 By SCOTT GOLD, Times Staff Writer=20 ?????ROMOLAND, Calif.--It has all the trappings of a parochial,=20 not-in-my-backyard brouhaha: anxiety over property values, the environment= =20 and local business. ?????But the subject of this particular debate--a proposed $270-million=20 electricity transmission line starting in this scrubby outpost of chicken= =20 wire, strip mall churches and tumbleweeds--has ominous implications for all= =20 of California. ?????Effectively using California's energy crisis as ammunition, San Diego= =20 Gas & Electric Co. wants to build the 500,000-volt line through 31 miles of= =20 bluffs, parks, wilderness and neighborhoods in southwest Riverside County. ?????That has prompted a boisterous response from area residents, who have= =20 countered with door-to-door campaigns and picket lines--and challenged the= =20 very notion, an article of faith in the energy industry, that additional=20 power lines are needed to dig the state out of its energy crisis. ?????"We're not human beings to them," said Loma Bosinger, co-chairwoman of= =20 Save Southwest Riverside County, formed in response to the SDG&E proposal.= =20 "We're nuisances. We're red tape." ?????SDG&E and other energy companies say that although the lack of=20 generators in California is the most pressing component of the crisis, a la= ck=20 of power transmission lines also is a key contributor. During the state's= =20 first round of rolling blackouts in January, Northern and Central Californi= a=20 suffered largely because of a transmission bottleneck in the Central Valley= . ?????The gaps in generation and transmission mean that California's=20 once-sturdy energy grid has become a fussy, delicate contraption, said Jim= =20 Avery, SDG&E's senior vice president of fuel and power operations. ?????"If one part gets out of balance, it can take down the whole system,"= =20 Avery said. ?????Neighborhoods along the proposed route of the so-called Valley Rainbow= =20 Interconnect, through dusty Hemet and the wine country of Temecula, aren't= =20 convinced that California's situation is quite so dire. ?????They point out that SDG&E first pitched the line last summer by saying= =20 that it was needed to provide power to the San Diego area--because state=20 energy officials believe that demand in the region will begin exceeding=20 current deliveries in 2004, which would mean blackouts. More recently,=20 though, SDG&E has begun pitching the new transmission line as a system to= =20 export electricity from new generators in the San Diego area to the rest of= =20 the state power grid. ?????SDG&E insists that those two arguments do not conflict. But residents= =20 have found the company's position disingenuous at best. And what seemed a= =20 neighborhood tiff has become something more, widely seen as a harbinger of= =20 scuffles to come as California confronts its power crisis. ?????The state already has 26,000 miles of electric transmission lines. And= =20 in the next four years--according to the California Independent System=20 Operator, the agency that oversees the state grid--74 transmission-line=20 construction projects are expected so energy companies can meet state and= =20 federal reliability standards. ?????More lines will be added purely for economic gain, said Armando Perez,= =20 director of grid planning for Cal-ISO, and similar battles are expected to= =20 dog many of those proposals. ?????"There has always been, and always will be, a tension between the=20 proponents' need for lines and locating it so it doesn't have a terrible=20 impact on neighboring communities," said Mark Mihaly, a San Francisco lawye= r=20 who will represent residents in upcoming hearings about the placement of th= e=20 transmission line. ?????"But what you will see is that the power companies are going to be usi= ng=20 the energy crisis, trying to hitch their wagon to that train. You'll see it= =20 again and again." ?????In coming months, politics may further complicate the debate. ?????In Washington, the task force developing a national energy=20 strategy--headed by Vice President Dick Cheney--is reportedly weighing a mo= ve=20 to give federal authorities the power of eminent domain to acquire private= =20 land for new electrical transmission lines. ?????And in Sacramento, Assemblyman Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) has= =20 proposed a bill that would require state energy officials and utilities to= =20 use public land for transmission lines before they would be allowed to=20 acquire private property. That bill, which awaits votes in two Assembly=20 committees in coming weeks, targets not only future transmission lines but= =20 the proposed line in southern Riverside County, Hollingsworth said. ?????"I object to the fact that private property is looked at as the path o= f=20 least resistance," he said. ?????In Riverside County, community leaders say they have a series of=20 concerns about the SDG&E proposal. Some are worried that the line will mar= =20 the picturesque bluffs of the region, which could in turn hurt its ability = to=20 draw tourists, wine lovers and nature lovers. That could drive down propert= y=20 values, they fear. Others are concerned about local businesses, from golf= =20 courses that are close to the proposed route of the transmission system to= =20 hot-air balloon companies that would have to steer clear of high-voltage=20 lines. ?????In Hemet, residents are enraged that the transmission line apparently= =20 will cut through parkland near the new Diamond Valley Lake reservoir. A=20 series of parks and nature preserves were supposed to be Hemet's "payment,"= =20 of sorts, for welcoming the $2-billion reservoir, the largest in Southern= =20 California. Now, many--including Metropolitan Water District officials--are= =20 afraid that the proposed lines could cleave those areas in two. ?????This kind of debate will become increasingly common, said Severin=20 Borenstein, a business professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business a= nd=20 director of the UC Energy Institute. ?????"There is a tremendous need for transmission," Borenstein said. "This = is=20 definitely part of the problem, and it will be an increasing part of the=20 problem. It is only going to get worse, because we are going to build a lot= =20 of transmission lines--and nobody wants them in their backyard." ?????On Thursday, Bosinger and two community activists leading the charge= =20 against the Riverside County transmission line met at what would be its=20 northern terminus--Southern California Edison's Valley substation in=20 Romoland. The group stopped under a massive power pole, the same type of=20 equipment they say will poison the vistas of southern Riverside County if= =20 they don't block SDG&E's expansion plans. ?????Power lines already in place crackled overhead. ?????"God, listen to that," Bosinger said. "I've never been this close to o= ne=20 before." ?????"Smells like electricity to me," said Barbara Wilder, Save Southwest= =20 Riverside County's other co-chairwoman. ?????"See, this isn't about us not wanting this in our backyard," Wilder=20 said, craning her neck to see the top of the towering power pole. "This is= =20 all for one and one for all. We don't want this in anybody's backyard." ?????Avery, the SDG&E vice president, said there is little choice in the=20 matter. ?????"There has to be a line built," he said. "I don't think there are any= =20 alternatives." Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times=20 Bush Tax Incentives Fuel Plan on Energy=20 Power: President=01,s 'new kind of conservation' also promotes efficient=20 technology. Change in focus follows criticism that his strategy relied too= =20 heavily on oil, gas.=20 By RICHARD SIMON, Times Staff Writer=20 ?????WASHINGTON--President Bush on Saturday called for a "new kind of=20 conservation" that saves power through tax incentives and energy-efficient= =20 technology, signaling a shift in tone as he prepares to unveil his long-ran= ge=20 energy policy. ?????Bush=01,s focus on conservation in his weekly radio address follows=20 criticism that he and Vice President Dick Cheney have been drafting a plan= =20 that is heavily weighted toward more oil and gas drilling while giving shor= t=20 shrift to other approaches to the energy problem. ?????In a clear response to such attacks, Bush pledged that conservation=20 would be a major element of his plan, to be released Thursday at an=20 energy-efficient power plant in St. Paul, Minn. ?????Previewing some of his policy=01,s details, Bush proposed tax credits = for=20 the purchase of gas-electric cars and expansion of a government program tha= t=20 promotes energy efficiency in buildings and products. ?????However, rather than call for Americans to sacrifice, as President=20 Carter did during the energy crisis of the 1970s, Bush said, "Some think=20 conservation means doing without. That does not have to be the case." ?????Conservation, he said, can be achieved through technological innovatio= n,=20 such as building sensors into buildings to shut off lights as soon as peopl= e=20 leave the room. ?????"Over the long term, the most effective way to conserve energy is by= =20 using energy more efficiently," Bush said. "Pushing conservation forward wi= ll=20 require investment in new energy technology, and that will be part of my=20 administration=01,s energy plan." ?????Bush=01,s stress on conservation seemed to contrast with recent commen= ts by=20 Cheney, who has been in charge of drafting the energy policy. In a recent= =20 speech, Cheney said, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it= =20 is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." ?????Energy conservation advocates, although welcoming Bush=01,s comments, = noted=20 that the administration has adopted less stringent energy-efficiency=20 standards for home central air conditioners than those advocated by the=20 Clinton administration. The Bush administration contended that the standard= s=20 proposed by Clinton set too high a burden on consumers. ?????David M. Nemtzow, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a=20 Washington-based coalition of business, consumer, government and=20 environmental leaders, called Bush=01,s emphasis on conservation a "great= =20 start," and he said it reflected a "change in tone from where [the=20 administration] has been in the past." ?????However, Nemtzow added, "There needs to be a lot more." ?????Bush, who has been criticized by California officials for not doing mo= re=20 to address the state=01,s electricity crisis, said he is "very concerned" a= bout=20 the possibility of continuing blackouts in California this year. ?????He noted that federal facilities in California have been ordered to cu= t=20 peak electricity use--including setting thermostats at 78 degrees and turni= ng=20 off escalators during power emergencies--and military bases in the state wi= ll=20 reduce peak-hour use by 10%. ?????"These are immediate measures to help with an immediate problem," Bush= =20 said.=20 ?????But Gov. Gray Davis, reacting to Bush=01,s address, assailed the White= =20 House for refusing to back firm price controls on wholesale electricity=20 supplies. Bush contends that price controls will discourage energy companie= s=20 from building power plants. ?????California last week had to pay $2,000 a megawatt hour for electricity= ,=20 up from $30 a year earlier, Davis said in a statement. The power supplier, = he=20 noted, was a Texas energy company. ?????"I hope that President Bush and I can agree that any worthy energy=20 policy must address the price gouging of consumers by greedy energy=20 suppliers, particularly in states like California that are working valiantl= y=20 to bring additional supply online," Davis said. ?????Based on details that have emerged in recent days, Bush=01,s energy=20 blueprint will, among other things, call for opening up more federal land t= o=20 oil and gas exploration, encouraging development of more nuclear power,=20 streamlining the approval process for building new power plants and giving= =20 federal authorities eminent domain power to acquire private property for=20 transmission lines. ?????On the conservation front, the plan will include:=20 ?????* Tax incentives to encourage businesses to use more energy-efficient= =20 power plants; ?????* Tax credits for purchase of high-mileage, low-emission "hybrid"=20 vehicles that use electronics and fuel cells to significantly improve their= =20 gasoline mileage. Bush, in his remarks Saturday, did not specify an amount.= =20 Bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress would provide a tax credit of= =20 $1,000 for consumers who purchase hybrid vehicles; ?????* Expansion of a federal program that promotes energy efficiency in=20 office buildings to cover schools, stores, health care facilities and homes= ; ?????* Extending the federal "Energy Star" labeling program to additional= =20 products, appliances and services. The Energy Star is a federal seal of=20 energy efficiency coveted by many manufacturers; ?????* Strengthening public education programs on energy efficiency. The=20 typical homeowner can save about $400 a year on a home energy bill by using= =20 Energy Star-labeled products, such as computers and air conditioners, the= =20 White House said. ?????Skepticism about the administration=01,s commitment to conservation wa= s=20 sparked in part by proposed budget cuts to the Energy Department program=20 designed to promote renewable energy sources. White House officials say Bus= h=20 is considering restoring some of the money. ?????Some members of Congress, mostly Democrats, also have been pushing the= =20 administration to recommend tougher fuel economy standards for sport-utilit= y=20 vehicles. But Bush=01,s policy report is expected to defer a recommendation= =20 until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study this summer on how= =20 tougher standards could affect the auto industry. ?????Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who= =20 are sponsoring a bill to increase the standards, contend it would save 1=20 million barrels of oil a day. Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times=20 State buffer on blackouts near limit=20 Program that lets big businesses curb energy use almost exhausted=20 John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, May 14, 2001=20 ,2001 San Francisco Chronicle=20 URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=3D/c/a/2001/05/14/MN197365= .DTL=20 While some of California's biggest energy users cut their power last week t= o=20 keep the lights on in the rest of the state, the program that provides that= =20 emergency help is almost out of business.=20 Most of the state's 1,600 or so "interruptible customers," who agree to=20 short-notice power cuts in return for lower energy costs, were asked to shu= t=20 down four times last week as demand for electricity rose in the hot weather= =20 and supply was constricted by planned and unplanned generator shutdowns.=20 But there are strict limits on how often those customers can be turned to= =20 during the year -- and the state is fast approaching those limits.=20 "There are only about eight more times we can call on them this year," said= =20 Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System=20 Operator, which runs most of the state's power grid.=20 QUOTAS NEARLY FULL The situation is especially bad in Northern and Central California, where a= ll=20 but a handful of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s 170 interruptible customers= =20 have already reached their quotas for the year.=20 "These customers are mostly big manufacturers, food processors and companie= s=20 like that," said Staci Homrig, a PG&E spokeswoman. "The ISO called on us a= =20 lot."=20 With the state's creaky, overworked power system poised on the knife's edge= =20 between demand and capacity, the interruptible customers often are all that= =20 keep the system from tipping over into rolling blackouts.=20 "They are a huge, huge help," McCorkle said.=20 Last Monday, for example, the ISO ordered interruptible customers to cut=20 their loads shortly after 10 a.m. Within 30 minutes, the power crunch had= =20 started to ease, as about 900 megawatts of demand dropped out of the system= .=20 That's enough power to supply 900,000 homes.=20 It wasn't until late in the afternoon, when those companies reached their= =20 six-hour daily limit and were allowed to power back up, that an hourlong=20 blackout became necessary.=20 Thursday, the cooperation of interruptible customers meant blackouts were= =20 never called.=20 DIFFICULTIES FOR CUSTOMERS The power cuts aren't easy for the businesses ordered to make them.=20 Hanson Permanente Cement in Pleasanton is one of the companies that already= =20 has used up its voluntary blackout hours for the year.=20 "In January, the outages essentially put us out of business," said Earl=20 Bouse, who runs the company. "It put us in a situation where we couldn't ma= ke=20 product."=20 The plant, which has 200 employees and operates 24 hours a day, gets only a= =20 half-hour's notice to shut down. That means the kilns have to be powered=20 down, machinery turned off and the lights dimmed. Only a minimal amount of= =20 power remains online.=20 But even when the lights come back on, things don't immediately return to= =20 normal, Bouse said.=20 "If we're down for four hours, it's another 20 hours before we're up and=20 running at capacity," he said.=20 In exchange for the headaches -- and lost business -- the cement company pa= ys=20 an electricity rate that is 15 to 20 percent below what PG&E normally=20 charges. That is a major incentive for a company where power makes up about= =20 15 percent of its total costs.=20 "For companies paying a $10 million electricity bill, that's a savings of $= 2=20 million a year," Homrig said.=20 For years, it was even a better deal. Although the interruptible power=20 program has existed since the mid-1980s, the power was almost never=20 interrupted. Companies signing up for the program have received $2 billion = in=20 reduced rates since 1990, but until recently they never had to turn off the= ir=20 lights.=20 From 1992 to 1999, for example, PG&E's interruptible customers were asked t= o=20 cut power only 19 times. Southern California Edison, which has the bulk of= =20 the interruptible companies, had only four curtailments, all in 1998.=20 When the power crunch hit last year, everything changed. Both PG&E and Edis= on=20 called for power interruptions 20 times, and their customers started=20 screaming.=20 "It was an emergency capacity program, and no one expected we'd have so man= y=20 emergencies," said Lynda Ziegler, an Edison executive.=20 A report by the state Public Utilities Commission in February was more=20 specific.=20 "Numerous customers, including some schools and hospitals, 'gamed' Edison's= =20 tariffs," the PUC said. They figured that they could get the lower rate and= =20 never have to cut power.=20 When Edison ordered the power shutdowns last year, only 62 percent of their= =20 interruptible customers complied, despite signed contracts with the utility= .=20 With PG&E, the compliance level was 96 percent.=20 NONCOMPLIERS TO THE SOUTH Many of the Edison customers "are unwilling or unable to lower their energy= =20 use when requested," the PUC report concluded.=20 In 2000, Edison hit noncompliers with $92.4 million in penalties and PG&E= =20 ordered $2.2 million in fines. Millions of dollars more were assessed this= =20 year before threats of lawsuits, potential legislative action and howls fro= m=20 California manufacturers persuaded the PUC to order the fines suspended lat= e=20 in January. Much of the money probably will be returned.=20 Because of the controversy surrounding the interruptible program, state pow= er=20 officials are trying to have a new, more flexible system in place by June.= =20 The new program allows companies to cut only part of their electrical load= =20 and limits the blackouts to four hours a day and 10 days a month.=20 "We're trying to get (customers representing) another 400 megawatts signed= =20 up," Homrig said. "That's the same as we have for the current program."=20 Without the help an interruptible user program provides, California residen= ts=20 could be spending a lot more time in the dark this summer, ISO officials=20 warned.=20 "(Interruptibles) have always been a buffer," said Jim McIntosh, the ISO's= =20 director of operations. "When I don't have that buffer, we'll move to almos= t=20 instant blackouts."=20 E-mail John Wildermuth at jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com.=20 INTERRUPTING POWER Number of days PG&E and Southern California Edison "interruptible"=20 customers were asked to go dark, and percentage that complied. . . PG&E Southern California Edison Number of Percent Number of Percent Year curtailments compliance curtailments compliance 1992 1 93% 0 - 1993 1 92 0 - 1994 0 - 0 - 1995 5 96 0 - 1996 4 98 0 - 1997 1 97 0 - 1998 5 96 4 56 1999 2 (x) 0 - 2000 20 96 20 62 =20 (x) - Figure unavailable Source: California Public Utilities Commission Chronicle Graphic ,2001 San Francisco Chronicle ? Page?A - 1=20 Natural gas giant says state subcommittee report is flawed=20 Monday, May 14, 2001=20 ,2001 Associated Press=20 URL:=20 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2001/05/14/s= tate0 418EDT0124.DTL&type=3Dnews=20 (05-14) 01:18 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --=20 A natural gas giant says it's being used as a scapegoat for California's=20 soaring gas rates, while a state Assembly subcommittee says the company=20 deliberately drove prices up by reducing the state's gas flow, according to= a=20 report expected to be released Monday.=20 In a written statement released Sunday, El Paso Corp. officials called the= =20 Energy Oversight Subcommittee's April hearings "a sham," saying "the rise i= n=20 California natural gas prices is not attributable to El Paso, but is=20 attributable to the fact that demand for gas has far outstripped supply."= =20 El Paso Natural Gas Co. and its affiliates negotiated contracts with each= =20 other that gave them the means and incentive to squeeze supplies and boost= =20 the cost of natural gas 489 percent during the 12-month period ending in=20 February, the subcommittee says in its report obtained by The Associated=20 Press.=20 "For California natural gas consumers, the numbers tell the truth," the=20 report said. "The exorbitant prices cannot be defined away by regulators an= d=20 bureaucrats or explained away by corporate lawyers' wordplay."=20 El Paso says it received correspondence between subcommittee staff and a=20 Southern California Edison legal consultant, revealing "the subcommittee=20 majority's conclusions were pre-determined to blame El Paso for California'= s=20 failed energy policies," the statement said.=20 Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, wrote a minority report agreeing with = El=20 Paso, saying the subcommittee hearings were "a specific inquiry targeted to= =20 prove a conclusion that was reached by the majority before the hearings=20 began."=20 Californians paid $6.6 billion for natural gas in 1999, $12.3 billion last= =20 year, and $7.9 billion through March 2001, the report says. At one point=20 there was a 2,795 percent difference between the price of gas at its source= =20 in the Southwest and its cost at the California border.=20 Many of the state's electricity generators are driven by natural gas,=20 contributing to California's high electricity prices and the supply shortag= e=20 that has brought six days of rolling blackouts this year.=20 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is investigating energy overcharge= s.=20 It has installed limited caps on electricity prices but has rejected demand= s=20 for more stringent cost controls.=20 ,2001 Associated Press ?=20 SAN FRANCISCO=20 S.F. stoplights to get more efficient bulbs=20 Monday, May 14, 2001=2
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