US Dam Rescues Calif Grid, But Lawmaker Demands More Pwr
  
09/25/2000 
Dow Jones Energy Service 
(Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- California averted a blackout last week with some 
help from the federal government. 
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation opened the flowgates at the massive Glen 
Canyon dam in Arizona, providing 300 megawatts of power for four hours in the 
afternoon of Sept. 18, according to federal officials. 
The event illustrated how dependent the Western power grid is on electricity 
from U.S. government-owned dams, and highlighted the increasing political 
tensions that arise from the use of these assets as competition shakes up the 
nation's $215 billion power sector. 
At a House Government Reform Committee hearing last Thursday, Rep. Doug Ose, 
R-Calif., demanded to know why, if the Bureau of Reclamation was able to help 
the state avert a grid emergency, it didn't make electricity available 
throughout the summer months when San Diego consumers paid twice as much for 
electricity as they did in 1999. 
"This administration sacrificed the interests of consumers in San Diego," Ose 
declared. 
But a Bureau of Reclamation spokesman said last week's emergency marked the 
first time the California grid operator had asked for help. 
The Interior Department agency was prepared to act further by making power 
available from other dams later in the week, but the state's grid operator 
didn't ask for power, said the spokesman, Barry Worth. 
Under a mandate from the Interior Department to restore riverbank beaches 
deemed critical for endangered wildlife, Glen Canyon has been operated for 
the last few years in a way that reduces net power production from the dam by 
about 900 megawatts. 
The doubling of flows last Monday was within the restricted range required by 
the Interior Department, Worth said. 
But he noted the agency was reluctant to do so out of concern it would 
interfere with a summer-long test of the impact on endangered species from 
drought-simulated low flows. 
"The amount we increased was of concern to us initially because of our test, 
but we determined the amount was analogous to monsoonal thunderstorms we 
would normally get this time of year," Worth said. 
"We wanted to make sure we were protecting our studies," he said. 
Nevertheless, Worth noted that power from Glen Canyon doesn't normally flow 
to California to begin with. And he emphasized that transmission constraints 
don't make the state a natural destination for the dam's power. 
Given the configuration of the Western grid, it is easier for California to 
get its power from other sources in the region, such as Hoover Dam, Worth 
said. 
"We responded, but there's a limitation to how much we can (help) to begin 
with," he said. 
Still, if California asks, the agency is prepared to help by providing power 
again, Worth said. 
   
By Bryan Lee, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-6647, bryan.lee@dowjones.com