FYI on behalf of Sue Mara:

Governor Gray Davis to address California energy crisis
It is expected he will be speaking for about four minutes and that he will 
start at about 6:05 p.m. PDT.




Gov. Davis is expected to deliver a five-minute speech to Californians 
Thursday night 
?

From CNN.com:
April 5, 2001
Web posted at: 4:38 p.m. EDT (2038 GMT)
Hena Cuevas is a CNN Correspondent based out of California.
Q: What do we expect to be the main points of Governor Gray Davis' address 
this evening?
CUEVAS: His office has said that the basic theme will be conservation. 
Basically, he is trying to motivate everyone to conserve. Also, we are 
expected to hear a stern warning involving the power situation this summer. 
It is expected to be a warmer than average summer. Davis e is also going to 
address that. We have also been told that he will make some sort of 
announcement and that the announcement is being kept under tight wraps; it is 
top secret. At this point we can,t even speculate as to what it will be. But 
there will be a big announcement.
It is expected he will be speaking for about four minutes and that he will 
start at about 6:05 p.m. PDT.




Q: How has the energy crisis affected the Governor's popularity?
CUEVAS: The latest polls -- and these were probably around Mid-March ) show 
that his popularity and his approval ratings have declined. The latest poll 
commissioned by the Service Employees International Union shows that only 29 
percent of those surveyed said that they would vote for Davis again. He, 
however, is trying to distance himself from this energy problem saying that 
it is the responsibility of the Republican lead Senate and Legislature who 
were the ones that passed these deregulation laws and that basically, he just 
got handed the problem and he is trying to solve it. 
There was the first ever state Democratic convention in Orange County last 
weekend ) Orange County has traditionally been highly Republican. Everybody 
there said that they supported Governor Davis and that they believe that the 
Democratic Party in this state will not be affected by this crisis, that they 
are basically trying to fix what the previous administration did.
Q: What impact will the California energy crisis have on Davis, political 
future?
CUEVAS: Davis says that it will not impact his future. He feels very 
confident that he has been able to send out the message that he is not 
responsible for this crisis and that he is doing everything in his power to 
fix it. One of the things that he mentioned in a press conference on Saturday 
is that there are already new electrical plants that are under construction 
that should be ready by either 2004 or 2005. He says that he is doing 
everything in his power to be able to solve this crisis. Again, as things 
worsen and as the rolling blackouts begin and continue over the summer, 
obviously, everybody is trying to find somebody to blame and he is in the 
perfect position. That is why a lot of fingers are being pointed toward him.
Q: What actions has the Governor taken so far to try to avert the energy 
crisis?
CUEVAS: One of the things that he has approved is the construction of new 
energy plants. Also, he is asking that private companies and other large 
power users be allowed to contract directly for power with generators. This 
is different than what the Public Utilities Commission had been arguing for. 
He has also put forth called the 20/20 plan that says that if you save 20 
percent on your consumption of energy as compared to last summer, you will 
get 20 percent off your energy bill for the four summer months. He is doing 
everything in his power, he says, to try and avoid an even higher rate 
increase. However, there are a lot of people who are arguing for a higher 
rate and saying that would be the only way to try and stop this crisis.
Q: Do you have any final thoughts to share?
CUEVAS: When you go down to the consumers themselves, everyone is trying to 
make sure that the average resident is not the one footing the bill for the 
problems that are taking place at the governmental level. There seems to be a 
lot of frustration from both residents and businesses. There was a symposium 
at UCLA yesterday where the Anderson Business Forecast, a group that usually 
does economic forecast for the state of California, said their concern was 
that California would be affected in the long run. They said that those that 
are thinking about doing business in California might be hesitant and might 
look at other states that do not have this uncertainty with the energy 
situation and therefore, may not establish operations in California. That was 
one of the biggest concerns. Right now California ranks number 48 or 49 in 
energy consumption so it is very energy efficient and aware as far as 
conservation efforts. So, hopefully, by conserving they might be able to get 
past this summer and have a solution by the end of the year.