Bush: No Price Caps on Electricity 

By Ron Fournier
AP White House Correspondent
Tuesday, May 29, 2001; 4:17 p.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES dd Asked to impose federal caps on soaring electricity bills, 
President Bush called for an end to finger pointing and blame for 
California's energy crisis Tuesday. California Gov. Gray Davis persisted, "We 
are entitled to relief." 

On a three-day mission to improve his West Coast political prospects, the 
president played down his private meeting with Davis in favor of an unusually 
busy public schedule highlighting his efforts to conserve electricity at 
federal installations, ease summer energy costs to the poor and boost the 
state's long-term resources. 

Davis, a Democrat with hopes of challenging Bush for the presidency in 2004, 
demanded that Washington force down electricity prices that have cost 
California nearly $8 billion since January. 

"We are entitled to relief," the governor said in a public discussion with 
victims of the energy crunch, staged in the same hotel where Bush was 
staying. "It doesn't matter if someone thinks we should have relief, the law 
says we should have relief." 

Polls show voters in the nation's most populous state don't think either 
politician is doing enough to ease their power woes. 

A spokesman for Davis dismissed Bush's call for a new tone on the energy 
debate. 

"We're asking the president to step up to the plate to use the power that 
only he has, and that's to provide some short-term price relief," spokesman 
Steve Maviglio said. 

Bush and Davis sparred in separate public events before their long-awaited 
meeting, scheduled for late Tuesday. 

The session was tightly choreographed, and neither side expected a resolution 
of their differences. Too much was at stake: After weeks of mixed signals, 
Bush needs to show Californians he sympathizes with their power problems. 
Davis, his approval rating plummeting, is searching for a scapegoat d and a 
way out of the energy crunch. 

Shortages and high prices could spread elsewhere and cause political problems 
for Bush. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was in Yonkers, N.Y., on Tuesday, 
warning that transmission bottlenecks are not restricted to California. 

Bush has criticized California, and by implication Davis himself, for not 
building more power plants or moving quicker to respond to fallout from 
faulty state deregulation laws. He sought Tuesday to remain above the fray, 
even as White House advisers continued to criticize Davis privately and 
predict that the governor's confrontational approach would backfire. 

"Energy debates sometimes throw off some sparks, but this is no time for 
harsh rhetoric. It's certainly no time for name calling. It's time for 
leadership. It's time for results. It's time to put politics aside and focus 
on the best interests of the people," Bush said during a visit to Camp 
Pendleton, a Marine base that has cut its energy usage. 

He did not mention price caps, but advisers said Bush had not budged from his 
belief that artificial limits won't lower consumers' bill and will lead to 
supply problems down the road. 

In the sundappled courtyard of the 1st Marine Division headquarters d 
nicknamed "the White House" for the color of its low-slung wood facade d Bush 
delivered a speech offering small measures of federal help to California. 

The initiatives include: 

d$150 million to help low-income Americans pay energy bills this summer. He 
will ask Congress to approve the additional spending for this fiscal year, 
which ends in October. 

dHis announcement that military facilities in California have exceeded their 
goal of trimming usage by 10 percent during peak hours. 

dA Department of Energy project to stimulate the building of more electrical 
lines running north and south through the state. 

Bush also said his $1.35 trillion tax-cut plan will offer "some help" to 
people struggling to pay soaring energy bills. 

Davis, who was elected in 1998 in a landslide, has watched his job approval 
rating drop about 20 percentage points since January as he struggled to come 
to grips with the state's energy shortages and rolling blackouts. 

Bush's job approval rating is still relatively high, though 56 percent of 
Californians in a recent poll said they disapprove of his handling of the 
electricity crisis. 

The president has avoided the state since losing its 54 electoral votes to 
Democratic rival Al Gore by 12 percentage points. He visited 29 states to 
promote his tax and budget plans before finally coming to California. 

Senior Republicans, including some Bush advisers, privately concede that 
Bush's prospects are dim for winning California in 2004. They are working on 
electoral map models that don't include the state in his chase for 270 
electoral votes. 

Bush had to eek out a recount in Florida to win the presidency without 
California last year. 

Sooner on the horizon are the 2002 congressional elections, where California 
could tip the balance. Republicans say Bush has to improve his standing here 
to help the GOP maintain control of the House and regain the Senate. 

, Copyright 2001 The Associated Press 

Bush's visit to California draws protest over energy

Updated: May 29, 2001 - 11:43 a.m.

CAMP PENDLETON -- Political and consumer activists chanted anti-Bush slogans 
and derided the president's energy policy Tuesday, accusing the 
administration of tolerating price-gouging. 
About 100 protesters waved signs and shouted in support of rate caps at the 
gate of the Camp Pendleton Marine base, where Bush spoke to military 
personnel on his first stop of a two-day California visit. 
Protesters from the state Democratic Party, the Green Party and 
environmental, consumer and socialist organizations called on Bush to support 
capping energy prices that have soared in California.
High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission glitches and a tight 
supply worsened by scarce hydroelectric power in the Northwest and 
maintenance at aging California power plants are all factors in California's 
electricity crisis. 
"We've got to stop the gouging and work towards a cleaner, more sane energy 
policy," said June Brashares of Global Exchange, an environmental and labor 
organization. 
Her father Bob Brashares, a 74-year-old retired minister from Escondido, 
criticized Bush for "complete inactivity" on the state's energy crisis. 
He said Bush apparently believes Californians should use their tax rebates to 
pay for rising energy costs. "It's a joke," he said. 
Several women wearing pig noses held signs saying: "Oilmen for Bush." 
In a speech to Marines on the base, Bush said: "It's certainly no time for 
name-calling. It's time for leadership. It's time to put politics aside and 
focus on the best interests of the people. This administration is focused on 
results. We are going to work together -- the federal government, the state 
government, the military and all the citizens." 
Bush has blamed California officials for the state's power woes and said 
price controls won't solve shortages. 
He was to speak with Gov. Gray Davis during a 20-minute session later 
Tuesday. 
Bush flew into the Marine base, 40 miles north of San Diego, without 
confronting the protesters. Military personnel and civilian workers largely 
ignored the group as they drove past the gate. 
At one point, the protesters attempted to walk onto the base. About a dozen 
California Highway Patrol officers in riot helmets moved to block their path. 
Several protesters expressed frustration that the president did not hear 
their complaints. 
"He should be here. He should address the crowd," said Patricia Verwiel, a 
fourth-grade teacher from Riverside. 
Cynthia Rich, a retired teacher from San Diego, agreed. "I think it's really 
cowardly for him to go on the base where he has a captive audience."
She called it "scandalous" that Bush planned to meet with Davis for only 20 
minutes. 
"That's a real insult to California," she said. 
Glen Brown, a 39-year-old neuroscientist, drove from San Francisco to protest 
Bush's appearance and rally support for development of wind and solar energy 
projects. 
"We're tired of corporate greed," said Brown, wearing a bushy purple clown 
wig and brightly colored jacket. "Essential services like energy shouldn't be 
at the whim of the free market." 
-- Associated Press 

Tuesday May 29 8:03 AM ET 
Bush: No Price Caps on Electricity

By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - President Bush traveled across the country to deliver news 
Gov. Gray Davis doesn't want to hear: He won't force down soaring electricity 
prices that have cost California nearly $8 billion since January.

The Republican president and the embattled Democratic governor arranged a 
20-meeting Tuesday to talk about California's energy crisis, but there was no 
indication they would break their stalemate.

Bush opposes price limits on wholesale electricity that utilities buy, 
arguing they do nothing to address supply-and-demand issues at the heart of 
the crisis.

Davis contends federal energy regulators are ignoring their mandate to ensure 
``just and fair'' electricity prices.

With no sign of a break in the deadlock, each side maneuvered for maximum 
advantage from Bush's first full day in California as president.

Davis, in an interview Tuesday on ABC's ``Good Morning America,'' defended 
his record on licensing more power plants.

``We've licensed 15 plants. Ten are under construction, four will be online 
this summer, four next summer, and by the end of 2003 we will have built our 
way out of this problem. But between now and then, we are getting gouged 
unbelievably,'' Davis said.

The Bush administration timed positive energy announcements to coincide with 
the president's visit.

At the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton, Bush was announcing the expansion 
of a program that provides federal money to help low-income residents pay for 
power.

Bush was proposing $150 million, in addition to $300 million already budgeted 
for a component of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, to provide 
special help to cash-strapped residents of California and certain Midwest 
areas such as Chicago, a senior administration aide said.

Bush was also reminding state residents of his order that military facilities 
in the state cut peak-hour usage by 10 percent.

To alleviate an electricity bottleneck on a crucial south-north transmission 
path, the Department of Energy announced that the Western Area Power 
Authority will try to raise money from a variety of private and public 
entities to finance a crucial additional lines.

``The Bush administration is taking a leadership role in addressing a 
long-neglected problem in California's electricity transmission system,'' 
said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. ``California's electricity problems 
developed over a period of years and cannot be solved overnight. However, we 
can move now on actions that will help avert the same types of problems from 
recurring year after year.''

Davis had a letter for Bush from top economists who maintain price caps are 
justified and necessary.

Aides to the governor expressed amazement that Bush would travel all the way 
to California with no major announcement in hand, and predicted Davis would 
respond with ``polite rage.''

Mindful of the national stage he commanded, Davis planned a news conference 
to air his grievances. And he convened a panel of families he said have been 
victimized by the energy crisis in the same hotel where Bush was staying.

Davis wants Bush to pressure the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 
impose stiff price caps.

Tuesday, limited caps ordered last month by FERC go into effect in 
California, but only when electricity reserves fall below 7.5 percent in the 
state - a step Davis called inadequate.

Protesters planned demonstrations in Los Angeles and at Camp Pendleton, in 
San Diego County.

Bush also arranged a speech on energy and trade to the Los Angeles World 
Affairs Council and planned to president over a closed-door energy 
round-table discussion.