look at the Oakland Trib article on Lockyer, if you haven't seen it
----- Forwarded by Sandra McCubbin/NA/Enron on 05/24/2001 11:28 AM -----


	Gus Perez 05/24/2001 10:33 AM 	   To: Ann M Schmidt/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Bryan Seyfried/LON/ECT@ECT, Elizabeth Linnell/NA/Enron@Enron, filuntz@aol.com, James D Steffes/NA/Enron@Enron, Janet Butler/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Jeannie Mandelker/HOU/ECT@ECT, Jeff Dasovich/NA/Enron@Enron, Joe Hartsoe/Corp/Enron@ENRON, John Neslage/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT, John Sherriff/LON/ECT@ECT, Joseph Alamo/NA/Enron@Enron, Karen Denne/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Lysa Akin/PDX/ECT@ECT, Mark Palmer/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Mark Schroeder/Enron@EnronXGate, Markus Fiala/LON/ECT@ECT, Michael R Brown/LON/ECT@ECT, Mona L Petrochko/NA/Enron@Enron, Nicholas O'Day/AP/Enron@Enron, Peggy Mahoney/HOU/EES@EES, Peter Styles/LON/ECT@ECT, Richard Shapiro/NA/Enron@Enron, Rob Bradley/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Sandra McCubbin/NA/Enron@Enron, Shelley Corman/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Stella Chan/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT, Steven J Kean/NA/Enron@Enron, Susan J Mara/NA/Enron@Enron, Mike Roan/ENRON@enronXgate, Alex Parsons/EU/Enron@Enron, Andrew Morrison/LON/ECT@ECT, lipsen@cisco.com, Janel Guerrero/Corp/Enron@Enron, Shirley A Hudler/HOU/ECT@ECT, Kathleen Sullivan/NA/Enron@ENRON, Tom Briggs/NA/Enron@Enron, Linda Robertson/NA/Enron@ENRON, Lora Sullivan/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Jennifer Thome/NA/Enron@Enron, jkradin@marathon-com.com, rlichtenstein@marathon-com.com, syamane@marathon-com.com, ken@kdscommunications.com, hgovenar@govadv.com, sgovenar@govadv.com, bhansen@lhom.com, Carin Nersesian/NA/Enron@Enron, Robert Neustaedter/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT, John Shelk/NA/Enron@Enron, Chris Holmes/HOU/EES@EES, Evan Hughes/HOU/EES@EES, Roberta Staehlin/HOU/EES@EES, Lamar Frazier/HOU/EES@EES, Mary Schoen/NA/Enron@Enron, Ban Sharma/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT  cc:   bcc:   Subject: Energy Issues -thurs	


Please see the following articles:

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Davis to push backup diesel

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Bush-Davis meeting set for energy crisis

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Energy Digest: GOP unveils plan to help utility

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Few escape blame for crisis in poll

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: New views emerging on power
More elected officials support the concept of planned blackouts

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Californians' priorities for solving the crisis are outlined in a Field Poll

Sac Bee, Thurs, 5/24: Offshore drilling waits in the wings

SD Union, Thurs, 5/24: Bush, Davis to meet, discuss state's energy crisis

SD Union, Thurs, 5/24: California Democrats seek price caps on electricity

SD Union, Thurs, 5/24: Mexico: No limit on number of new plants to be built

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: Potential governor candidate launches Northern California tour

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: POLL: Californians dissatisfied with government handling of energy crisis

SF Chron , Thurs, 5/24: Energy crisis to cast long shadow 
A look at what energy crisis means to future

SF Chron , Thurs, 5/24: Chronicle readers' suggestions for coping with California's energy crisis 

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: Davis to order 1-hour notice of blackouts 

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: Californians angry across the board in energy crisis 

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: Council lowers hurdles to renewable energy 

SF Chron, Thurs, 5/24: New tips on power squeezing 

Mercury News, Thurs, 5/24: House panel calls off vote on Calif power bill

Mercury News, Thurs, 5/24: Davis proposal for more diesel power draws environmental criticism

Individual.com, Thurs, 5/24: Filing for Hayward Project Includes Request for Expedited Review

Individual.com, Thurs, 5/24: California Governor Signs Bill to Speed Up Approval for Power Plants

Oakland Tribune, Thurs,  5/24: Lockyer: Probe may spark suit 
Criminal charges could follow evidence of price gouging 

NY Times, Thurs, 5/24: 

WSJ, Thurs, 5/24: 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________





Davis to push backup diesel By Chris Bowman Bee Staff Writer (Published May 24, 2001)  In a major reversal of environmental policy, Gov. Gray Davis will announce a plan to relieve California's overloaded electricity grid this summer by paying businesses to run their high-polluting backup generators in advance of anticipated blackouts, a top energy adviser to the governor said Wednesday.  "The backup generators will help us get through the summer," said S. David Freeman, who recently resigned as general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to lead Davis' drive for energy conservation.  Freeman said he would leave it to Davis to disclose details of the plan.  "The governor will announce what he's going to do," he said Wednesday in a wide-ranging interview on energy issues with The Bee.  Roger Salazar, the governor's deputy press secretary, would not confirm when or whether Davis would make such an announcement.  "I don't know that the governor has signed off on anything like that," Salazar said.  Under the plan, participating businesses would turn on backup generators and simultaneously disconnect from the electricity grid when power supplies are at Stage 3 -- nearly depleted.  The state would pay the companies for the much-needed power that would be saved by converting to diesel generation.  Deploying diesel-powered generators -- the dirtiest of internal combustion engines -- to forestall blackouts is another sign of the governor's struggle to get more megawatts flowing through California.  Earlier this week Davis lowered his estimate of the amount of new power that will come on line this summer from 5,000 megawatts to 4,000 megawatts. A megawatt is enough power for 750 to 1,000 households.  The diesel plan also marks a significant turnabout in the Davis administration's policy.  The governor and his appointees at the state Air Resources Board uniformly have rejected such proposals from industries, utilities and the operator of the state's electricity grid, arguing that routine use of the backup diesels would endanger public health.  San Diego Gas & Electric has one such proposal scheduled for a vote today by the Davis-appointed state Public Utilities Commission.  Environmentalists who have been catching word of the Davis plan this week argue that it would shatter the governor's repeated promises to stand firm on air quality standards during the energy crisis.  A letter signed Wednesday by several of the state's leading environmental organizations, including the American Lung Association of California, urged Davis to reconsider.  "Given your awareness of the public health threats of diesel emissions, please stop and have these proposals considered in a more thoughtful and public manner," the letter states.  Freeman argued, however, that the additional health threat from non-emergency use of diesel generators is "marginal" compared with the health and safety problems triggered by power outages.  "This is a no-brainer," Freeman said. "You've got human lives at stake here. This is a scary situation."  Freeman cited, for example, people on life-support systems that could go awry in blackouts.  But Sandra Spelliscy, attorney for the environmentalist Planning and Conservation League, countered, "If the health impacts are so marginal, why has the governor's own air quality enforcement agency opposed this?"  Industries ranging from hospitals to food processing plants and data management centers have diesel-powered generators -- some the size of locomotives -- that kick on when a storm or earthquake knocks out power.  Unlike diesel-powered trucks and buses, most diesel standby generators run with little or no pollution controls because they are intended only for emergencies.  Though the latest models run cleaner and more efficiently, most generators in use today produce about 500 times more emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides per megawatt-hour as a new natural gas-fired power plant, according to air board engineers. Further, the diesels spew high amounts of breathable soot particles that can cause cancer, the engineers say.  Davis' plan would limit the use of the generators to days when the grid operator declares a Stage 3 alert, meaning the power supplies are running low and rolling blackouts may be ordered to keep the state's entire grid from collapsing, according to Freeman.  Salazar, the governor's spokesman, said only, "Any backup generation involving diesel will have to be used as a last resort to prevent blackouts."  Environmentalists who are trying to head off the plan said it would have the state paying participating businesses at least 35 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly three times the rate consumers typically pay for electricity. Freeman would not confirm the pay rate.  The Davis administration has offered generators willing to sell new power exclusively to the state 50 percent discounts on the air emission credits they would need to comply with smog rules.  For operators of existing power plants, the governor has agreed to have taxpayers pay the entire cost of polluting above allowable limits in order to keep the lights on.  The latest plan to pay companies to run the dirty diesels during energy alerts further loosens the environmental reins.   The Bee's Chris Bowman can be reached at (916) 321-1069 or cbowman@sacbee.com .   	








Bush-Davis meeting set for energy crisis By David Whitney Bee Washington Bureau (Published May 24, 2001)  WASHINGTON -- President Bush will meet next week with Gov. Gray Davis to talk about California's worsening electricity crisis amid a shifting political dynamic on Capitol Hill that increasingly favors some controls on West Coast wholesale electricity prices.  Details for the Bush-Davis meeting were still being worked out Wednesday, but the fact that the Republican president is meeting with the Democratic governor, who is often mentioned as a possible challenger in 2004, was seen as a sign that the White House is facing increasing political heat on the energy issue.  "California is a very big state," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "It represents one-sixth of the United States. It's the sixth-largest economy in the world. And the president is very pleased to sit and talk with Governor Davis. It's important."  Davis' spokesman, Steve Maviglio, said electricity price caps will be at the top of the governor's agenda for the meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday. But Fleischer did not commit the president to that kind of meeting.  In his first visit to the state since the campaign last year, the president will spend Monday night in Los Angeles and Tuesday night in Fresno.  Until now, the White House has steadfastly refused to meet with any elected Democrat from California about the energy crisis despite repeated pleas from the Democratic congressional delegation.  Price controls have become the mantra of California Democratic lawmakers and a handful of Republicans, but the Bush administration has flatly dismissed them as counterproductive to increasing power generation in the megawatt-short state.  In recent weeks, however, there has been a developing shift in the attitude toward price controls on Capitol Hill. Bush's two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, whose names were forwarded to the Senate floor Wednesday for confirmation, declined to rule out price controls once they are seated on the panel.  And the apparent decision by Vermont Sen. James Jeffords to abandon the Republican Party would put Democrats in control of the Senate, moving Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, a price-control advocate, to the helm of the key Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a committee Democrat, said Wednesday that she has talked to Bingaman and that he committed to moving her legislation to temporarily peg wholesale prices to the cost of production.  Four Republican House members from California have also endorsed some form of price-control legislation.  On Wednesday, Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento, announced that he is introducing a bill that, while not technically a price cap, would give greater price relief for West Coast consumers than federal regulators or the Bush administration have been willing to offer.  Ose, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee's energy subcommittee, said his bill would extend throughout the West a price-mitigation plan approved last month by the FERC. But instead of that plan taking effect only during power emergencies as the commission directed, it would operate around the clock under Ose's bill to peg spot market prices at the cost of production of the least-efficient plant selling into the California market.  Ose said his bill would encourage generators to sell their power through long-term contracts rather than on the volatile spot market.  "I am looking for a middle ground," Ose said.   The Bee's David Whitney can be reached at (202) 383-0004 or dwhitney@mcclatchydc.com .   	








Energy Digest: GOP unveils plan to help utility By Jim Sanders Bee Capitol Bureau (Published May 24, 2001)  State Assembly efforts to develop a bipartisan proposal to help Southern California Edison pay off massive debts and avoid bankruptcy hit a dead end Wednesday when Republicans released a plan of their own.  The move could force Democrats to sidestep Republicans and vote along party lines on an alternative to Gov. Gray Davis' proposed $2.76 billion state purchase of power lines.  Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks said Wednesday's split was necessary because there are few differences between the governor's plan and the Democrats' plan.  The Republican plan rejects the notion of purchasing transmission lines or hydroelectric facilities.  Key components call for dedicating a portion of consumer rates to allow Edison to pay off $3.5 billion in debts. In return, ratepayers would receive either an equity stake in future power plants or the right to purchase electricity at discount rates.	








Few escape blame for crisis in poll By Dan Smith Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief (Published May 24, 2001)  Utility companies and out-of-state power generators continue to get the lowest marks for their performance in California's energy crisis, but Gov. Gray Davis' grades have slipped dramatically over the past five months, according to a Field Poll released Wednesday.  And Californians, it turns out, blame plenty of people for the state's power woes -- except themselves.  Every player in the power drama gets poor marks except "residential energy consumers," which 39 percent of poll respondents say are doing a good or very good job to improve the energy situation. Only 22 percent think they are doing a poor or very poor job.  Public opinion of residential consumers' efforts has improved since January, when 32 percent thought they were doing a poor job and only 26 percent gave them high marks.  "The public sees themselves as conserving energy," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "That's the only positive movement in the survey."  For Davis, who faces re-election next year, the movement is far from positive.  In the January poll, the Democratic governor received good marks from 41 percent of those surveyed, average grades from 31 percent and poor ratings from only 22 percent.  But when the Field Institute conducted its recent poll between May 11 and Sunday, opinions about Davis flip-flopped. After months of energy angst, a handful of power blackouts and two rate increases, only 27 percent think Davis is doing a good job, while 38 percent gave him failing grades. The poll also shows that Californians believe the crisis will continue by an average of a year and a half, well through the upcoming re-election battle.  "All the rhetoric Davis used with some positive effect early on is not going over well any more," DiCamillo said. "The public is starting to view this as a long-term problem, not some temporary policy shift."  Still, Davis fares far better than his adversaries in the crisis -- President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the energy industry.  The public's view of energy interests, which was pretty dim in January, drops even lower in the May poll. Utility companies received bad ratings from half the public in January, but 57 percent now believe they are doing a poor or very poor job. Out-of-state energy generators, whom Davis has accused of gouging ratepayers, fell from 44 percent low ratings in January to 55 percent in the May poll.  Bush, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the state Public Utilities Commission are not far behind, drawing poor grades from more than half the public. Cheney, the architect of Bush's energy proposal, received low ratings from 43 percent. The January Field Poll did not ask about Bush and Cheney because they had not yet taken office.  Davis has repeatedly bashed FERC for not imposing wholesale price caps on electricity, and has called Cheney "grossly misinformed" on the state's energy problems. Cheney, in turn, has called Davis' energy proposals "harebrained" and "goofy."  The state Legislature receives poor marks from 41 percent of those polled, while only 16 percent believe it is doing a good job.   The Bee's Dan Smith can be reached at (916) 321-5249 or smith@sacbee.com . 	









        New views emerging on power More elected officials support the concept of planned blackouts By John Hill Bee Capitol Bureau  (Published May 23, 2001)  If Californians are to be left in the dark, they should at least know when to break out the candles or send the workers home.  That's the growing sentiment among a range of elected officials, including Gov. Gray Davis, who are pushing the idea of planning power blackouts and giving businesses and residents ample warning.  On Tuesday, the Democratic governor's office said Davis supports longer public notice than the 24 hours called for under a proposal by the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state's power grid.  Assemblyman Mike Briggs, R-Fresno, introduced a bill that would lay out a blackout schedule for the summer. Businesses could make plans for the possible blackout days and also be assured that on all other days the lights would stay on.  Briggs called his plan an improvement on the existing system in which "every day is a potential blackout day."  A Senate committee, meanwhile, discussed planned blackouts as part of a strategy to gain leverage over electricity generators by declaring that the state will not pay above a certain amount for power. The state would ask Washington and Oregon to join the so-called "buyers' cartel."  If the power generators refused to sell at the lower prices, the state would gut it out with planned blackouts.  "Let's use the blackouts against the generators," Michael Shames, head of the San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network, told the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. But Shames and others stressed the need for warnings of at least 12 hours and blackouts no longer than 90 minutes.  "Absent that management of blackouts, we don't see how the buyers' cartel could work," Shames said.  On a visit to Chicago on Monday, Davis said he talked to officials about the city's system for giving the public warning days before possible power blackouts, with definite notice right before.  "There is no reason to keep that secret from the public when their safety is likely to be jeopardized," Davis told reporters Tuesday. The governor said he plans to meet in the next few days with managers at ISO to explore the idea of a system like Chicago's.  The grid operator announced Monday that it will try to give the public at least a half-hour notice of outages, but many officials said Tuesday the public needs even more warning. Davis aides said the governor's plan will go beyond ISO's.  There are potential pitfalls. Criminals might make their own plans, taking advantage of deactivated alarms. And some say that a schedule of blackouts might increase the number of outages.  If people have been warned that a blackout is coming, and a last-minute supply of electricity makes it unnecessary, grid managers would have to decide whether to call it off, said Dorothy Rothrock, vice president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.  If they did, it would add uncertainty to future warnings, she said, possibly leading them to order unnecessary blackouts.  "Obviously, there are trade-offs," Rothrock said.  Still, the idea of planning blackouts seems to be gaining ground as a way for the state to get back some control of the energy crisis, sorely lacking in recent months.  "It would help us as Californians to say, 'The hell with you, George Bush, we're going to handle this ourselves,' " said Jim Overman, 68, of Elk Grove.  Overman said he has been burning up the phone lines trying to persuade anyone who will listen that scheduled blackouts will make everyone's lives easier.  Briggs said he has been told by constituents, including irrigators and food processors, that scheduled blackouts are the way to go.  Irrigators would know that they shouldn't plan on getting water on a day that their electronic gates might be closed.  Businesses could tell workers to stay home on a blackout day, or arrange for backup power generators, he said.  "We would be very interested in it," said Ed Yates, senior vice president of the California League of Food Processors.  Power blackouts are chaotic for processing plants, Yates said, requiring some plants to be re-sterilized and shutting down operations for more than a day.  Some processors might choose to close on days when they faced a blackout, he said, losing revenue but avoiding the loss of thousands of pounds of food.  "It doesn't solve the problem, but it helps manage a very difficult situation," he said.  Briggs said that his plan would result in possible blackout days every two weeks. The plan would assume that a certain number of customers would have to turned off to keep the grid operating. If the electricity shortage went above that amount, people might still face unanticipated blackouts, Briggs said.  One question is public safety. Some are queasy about burglars knowing when blackouts will occur. But pluses include the ability to arrange for temporary stop signs at road intersections, or families being able to arrange for a sick relative to be moved.  "If the police have only five minutes notice, they can't get to difficult intersections to direct traffic, they can't help paramedics, fire departments and ambulances get where they have to be," Davis said.  The manufacturers' association and other business groups haven't endorsed the idea yet, but say it's worth a look.  "It's preferable to random, rolling blackouts," Rothrock said.  The Bee's John Hill can be reached at (916) 326-5543 or jhill@sacbee.com  	









        Californians' priorities for solving the crisis are outlined in a Field Poll * Related graphic   By Dan Smith Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief  (Published May 23, 2001)  Californians have some clear ideas on how to solve the energy crisis: build more nuclear power plants, cap the wholesale price of electricity and relax air-quality standards to allow older plants to be upgraded.  And, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday, they're not so hot on the recently approved $13.4 billion bond authorization to pay for electricity, or the idea of Gov. Gray Davis seizing power plants through eminent domain.  Poll architects said responses may be somewhat colored by respondents' unfamiliarity with all the issues or skepticism on the causes of the state's power woes. Nearly 60 percent said it essentially is an artificial crisis created by power companies to make money.  But on one longstanding issue -- nuclear power -- the poll showed a clear preference and a dramatic shift in public opinion.  In the highest recorded support for nuclear power in California since before the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979, 59 percent say they favor more nuclear plants in the state to provide electricity.  Support among registered voters grows to 61 percent, with 33 percent opposed. Among Democrats, 53 percent support more nuclear plants, and three-fourths of Republicans and 55 percent of others agree.  "The change in attitude is very significant because they know this issue," Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said.  Californians' support for nuclear power reached nearly 70 percent in the mid-1970s in the aftermath of a nationwide energy crisis. But it plummeted to 37 percent in 1979 after the partial meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant and fell to 33 percent in 1984 -- the last time Field surveyed the question.  In 1989, voters demanded that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Rancho Seco nuclear plant be shut down. The utility complied and has spent more than $200 million decommissioning it during the past 12 years.  Although the poll results are in line with some private surveys done recently by nuclear-energy advocates, opponents say the Field Poll opinions could be misleading because the issue has been dormant for so long. Not since the late '70s has an application for a nuclear plant been filed in the United States. Only two operate in California -- San Onofre in San Diego County and Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo.  "When the (poll) questions are on issues that people haven't thought about that much lately, you do get some aberrant results," said Bill Magavern, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club. "People right now are obviously concerned about electricity, but they haven't really thought about what it would be like to have a nuclear power plant in the neighborhood."  The Field Poll results lend support to at least one aspect in the national energy plan recently released by President Bush, who called for more nuclear power plants nationwide.  But poll respondents were even more insistent that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should impose caps on wholesale energy prices despite opposition from the Bush administration. The poll showed 70 percent of all adults and 68 percent of registered voters -- including 57 percent of Bush's fellow Republicans -- support the price controls.  "It really does expose the Bush administration to long-term serious problems in California if they're perceived as not willing to help the state in this regard," DiCamillo said. "The public really thinks (price caps) should be imposed."  Republicans in the survey support price caps despite Bush opposition, and Democrats narrowly oppose the move by Democratic lawmakers and Davis to authorize the largest bond sale in national history to pay for power purchases.  Among all adults, 38 percent approve of the move, and 52 percent oppose it. Democrats disapprove of the bonds by a 46 percent to 44 percent margin.  Californians' desire for clean air is softening in the face of the energy crunch, respondents said.  By a margin of 51 percent to 41 percent, poll respondents say they would maintain air-quality standards rather than relax them to build plants. That support is down from a Field survey in January, when 59 percent said they'd rather maintain standards. Moreover, a majority (53 percent) say they would relax air-quality standards to get older plants back in operation, an increase from 47 percent in January.  Slight majorities support a state-run public power authority (54 percent) and state-owned power transmission lines (51 percent), but DiCamillo said that some poll respondents were probably not familiar with all the implications of those moves.  Responses to the idea of Davis seizing power plants if prices continue to rise this summer fell somewhat down partisan lines, with Democrats in favor, 50 percent to 42 percent, and Republicans opposed, 52 percent to 32 percent. Overall, the idea was rejected by 48 percent of adults and favored by 44 percent.  A strong majority of registered voters, 56 percent, oppose additional offshore oil and gas drilling to ease the energy crunch, and 38 percent favor it.  The Bee's Dan Smith can be reached at (916) 321-5249 or smith@sacbee.com . 	









        Offshore drilling waits in the wings   (Published May 23, 2001)  WASHINGTON -- The release today of a piece of President Bush's energy policy has California lawmakers squirming.  A natural gas advisory panel is set to unveil a 56-page report looking at whether moratoriums on offshore oil and gas development should be lifted. It will also name specific sites for possible drilling.  Rep. Anna Eschoo, D-Palo Alto, said Tuesday that if the Bush administration tries to undo moratoriums protecting more than 170 million acres off the California coast, it would be like "targeting a missile at us."  So far, the Bush administration hasn't taken any direct action. The energy policy he released last week calls for more oil and gas development, but its only recommendation about offshore drilling was that the secretaries of interior and commerce re-examine current laws and executive orders "to determine if changes are needed."  Today's report is to urge selection of five of the most promising gas prospects in offshore areas covered by moratoriums in a pilot program aimed at eventual drilling. The report doesn't say where those five pilot areas should be. But Reps. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and Mike Thompson, D-Napa, are fearful that Morro Bay in San Louis Obispo County and the Eel River Basin in Humboldt County in their districts are likely choices.  -- David Whitney 	








Bush, Davis to meet, discuss state's energy crisis 	



By Finlay Lewis COPLEY NEWS SERVICE  May 23, 2001  WASHINGTON - After weeks of holding California and its electricity crisis at arm's length, President Bush will plunge into the problem next week during a two-day visit to the state that will include a possible energy summit with California Gov. Gray Davis.  White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters Wednesday that the state's energy crisis will be "at the top of the list" when the president and the governor meet. The president's aides said that the time and place for the meeting are still being worked out.  Bush's visit to the state will be his first since last fall's campaign. With their party enjoying only a slim majority in the U.S. House, some California Republicans have expressed dismay over their state's absence from the president's extensive post-inaugural travel schedule, fearing that the energy crisis could cost some GOP lawmakers their seats in next year's elections. 	



Fleischer's announcement Wednesday of the meeting with Davis and its emphasis on energy caught many by surprise because the White House had given no hint until then that the president would address the issue during his upcoming trip to California.  However, Davis called the White House on Tuesday night proposing a meeting with the president specifically to discuss energy.  He followed up with two letters on Wednesday expressing the need for quicker action on the energy front: "Californians can't afford to wait four or five years for a permanent solution. We need relief today."  In the longer of two letters, Davis wrote: "You and I don't agree on everything. But here's something we do have in common: we both inherited an energy mess. And the people that elected us expect us to clean it up."  Davis also offered in the letters to "introduce" Bush to "business owners and everyday citizens who have been personally affected by this energy crisis."  Fleischer said Wednesday that Bush would meet with "business leaders and energy consumers."  Asked who initiated the meeting with Davis, Fleischer suggested the president's schedule had been drawn up independently of Davis' suggestions.  "This is a case of they both want to meet with each other, and we're very pleased to be able to make it work out," he said.  As for the meeting with the business leaders, Fleischer said, "The president has several events on his schedule that already include business leaders and energy consumers, and so it very well may happen that we're each suggesting similar things, which would be a healthy sign."  Bush's itinerary also includes a stop on Tuesday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base designed to showcase his order directing the military to cut their energy use by 10 percent at California facilities.  Fleischer said that the president wanted "to talk about how the federal government is going to be a strong partner to the state of California in the cause of energy conservation to help ease the burden in California as they go through the summer months when demand is high and blackouts are most at risk."  The White House released an outline of the president's California itinerary on Tuesday afternoon. It indicated that the visit would not give prominent attention to the state's energy woes.  Fleischer declined to say whether the president would expand on his energy plan in any way while in California.  Davis and other California Democrats have been sharply critical of the Bush administration for failing to take decisive action to help alleviate the electricity shortage's toll on the state and its citizens.  They are backing legislation due to come to a key vote on Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would cap electricity rates in the state. The administration and most of the state's Republican lawmakers oppose the measure.  Last week, Bush showcased an administration task force report on the nation's energy challenges that stressed long-range solutions focused mainly on increasing the supply of fossil fuels and an expanded role for nuclear power. The report also suggested incentives to encourage energy conservation and greater fuel efficiency.  Bush's trip will begin on Monday when he flies from a Memorial Day event in Arizona to Los Angeles where he will spend the night. He will return to Washington on Wednesday night after a visit to the Fresno area.  Bush assumed office despite losing the nation's most populous state by a decisive margin and then launched into the most ambitious travel schedule of any modern president. It included stops in 27 states - not California.  (Lewis reported from Washington and Sweeney from Sacramento. 	






California Democrats seek price caps on electricity

By Finlay Lewis
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE 
May 22, 2001 
WASHINGTON - Accusing power generators of price gouging, a group of California House Democrats vowed Tuesday to try again this week to legislate price caps in order to bring down the energy bills in the state. 
Rep. Henry Waxman, a Los Angeles Democrat and author of the price-cap measure, said he would offer the measure as an amendment on Thursday. At that time the House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to complete work on a bill designed to reduce the number of blackouts expected in California this summer due to shortages in the supply of electrical power. 
Waxman and other Democrats seized on Republican fund-raising events on Monday and Tuesday nights involving President Bush and Vice President Cheney, charging the Republican administration with exacerbating the California situation by doing the bidding of the oil and gas industry in return for campaign contributions. 
"This is a contrived crisis in order to wreck our environmental protection laws," Waxman said. "It is a contrived crisis in order to produce 1000 percent increases in profits for some of these generators." 
On the agenda when the committee meets Thursday will be a bill by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, that would allow California Gov. Gray Davis to temporarily waive some air pollution limits to increase power production in the state when blackouts are imminent. 
It also would include: 
  federal help to ease a power transmission bottleneck in the Central Valley; 
  mandated power savings at federal facilities; 
  state discretion in adjusting daylight savings time; 
  an easing of the ties of some small, independent power generators to large utilities. 
Earlier this month, a subcommittee chaired by Barton rejected Waxman's price-cap amendment as some California Republicans complained that the idea of limiting power rates was politically inspired and would do nothing to solve California's crisis. 
The Bush administration and the energy industry oppose price caps, saying that such an approach would distort the market and worsen the electricity shortage in California and many other western states by discouraging exploration and production. 
Waxman's plan would require federal regulators in many cases to tie wholesale power rates to production costs, plus a "reasonable" profit. 
At the press conference, Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, derided Republican opposition to price caps. 
Referring to wholesale power generators, Filner argued, "They were making money at $30 a megawatt; now they are charging up to $2,000. Believe me: They can make money off the market with a cost-base rate. They have done it for 100 years. They can continue doing it." 
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Redondo Beach, said that California Republicans on the energy committee would suffer politically if they give into pressure from party leaders to oppose the price-cap bill. 
"There are no party affiliations for rate payers," said Harman, a committee member. "Republicans and Democrats have both seen the gouging of their rates in California." 






Mexico: No limit on number of new plants to be built 	
	




Energy chief says 'anyone who requests a permit will get it' By Diane Lindquist  UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER  May 22, 2001  Mexican Energy Secretary Ernesto Martens said yesterday that Mexico won't set any limit on the number of power plants in Baja California supplying electricity north of the border.  "Since there's a window of opportunity here because of the need in California for electricity, anyone who requests a permit will get it," Martens said after speaking at the Institute of the Americas' 10th annual Latin American Energy Conference in La Jolla.  Power plant construction in Baja California has become one of the most immediate solutions to California's electricity shortfalls. At least three plants being built in Baja California in the next four years will send electricity north of the border, where blackouts have interrupted normal activity.  One facility, a Sempra Energy Corp. power plant near Mexicali, will export all of its electrical output to consumers north of the border. The San Diego company's project gained quick approval from Mexican authorities because the facility is not subject to restrictions imposed on private companies that supply electricity to the Mexican market.  Other Mexican energy officials have said several other enterprises are interested in building similar facilities in Baja California.  Such a mushrooming of projects is prompting concern on both sides of the border that the plants might have harmful effects on natural resources and public health and safety.  In his speech, Martens emphasized Mexico's commitment to preserving the environment and local communities.  But afterward, he said Mexico will approve any number of Baja California projects to serve California consumers.  "I don't see any limit. The only limit is the ability of the interconnecting lines to transmit the electricity that is produced," he said.  With a capacity of only 400 megawatts each, the two transmission interconnections linking the electricity grids of California and Baja California will not be able to transmit all of the 1,500 megawatts of electricity for the California market produced by the new Baja California plants -- let alone any additional facilities.  Sempra, whose San Diego Gas & Electric subsidiary owns both the interconnecting lines, plans to upgrade the interconnector near Mexicali, spokesman Michael Clark said yesterday. The improvement will transmit electricity from Sempra's plant in Baja California to the company substation in Imperial Valley. The other connection links San Diego and Tijuana.  Clark said he doesn't know how the other companies building Baja California plants plan to transmit their electricity. Representatives of the firms could not be reached yesterday.  Even if the companies find a way to send electricity across the border, the California grid system presents another obstacle.  To prepare for the possibility of more demands on the Southern California grid, the Imperial Irrigation District is analyzing what capacity it has for transmitting supplies on its lines and how to assess tariffs for the service.  "It's become very important because of our proximity to Mexico," said district spokesman Ron Hull.  The ability to transmit electricity is only one force limiting plant construction in Baja California. Another is the supply of fuel to drive the facilities.  Sempra again is a key player in this area. It plans to build a North Baja Pipeline that will supply natural gas to its own and two other power plants in Baja California and the proposed Otay Mesa plant in San Diego. The pipeline won't provide fuel for any other facilities.  "It's fully subscribed," said Clark. "In the future if there is enough demand, the compression could be increased."  Energy Secretary Martens, however, hinted at the possibility of new natural gas supplies in Baja California. He said Mexico wants liquified natural gas facilities to be built in Rosarito Beach and Ensenada.  While several companies have expressed an interest in such an operation, Martens' comments were the first to indicate that two, and not one, might be approved for Baja California. 	





Potential governor candidate launches Northern California tour 
ALEXA HAUSSLER, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 Associated Press 
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/05/24/state1726EDT0229.DTL&type=news  
(05-24) 00:01 PDT LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) -- 
Republican William E. Simon Jr. says he won't decide until the first week of June whether to jump into the race for governor, although he appeared to be campaigning for the job this week. 
Trailed by a group of reporters Wednesday, the wealthy Pacific Palisades investment banker visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and took a few jabs at both Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and his potential GOP primary opponent, Secretary of State Bill Jones. 
"I think there's a leadership crisis in Sacramento," said Simon, who criticized Davis' handling of the state's power crisis. 
"You have the same elected people today trying to figure out a solution to the crisis that got us into the crisis," Simon said. 
Pressed to explain how he would end the crisis that has brought rolling blackouts and soaring power bills, Simon said he still is preparing his own plan. 
The son of Ford administration Treasury Secretary William E. Simon insisted he has yet to make a final decision on whether to run in 2002, adding he would make up his mind by June 4 after consulting with his family. 
Asked if he has any ties to companies profiting from the power crisis, Simon said he owns a "small piece" of a Texas-based company that makes equipment used in extracting or processing oil and natural gas. 
Before founding his investment banking firm with his father in 1988 he was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York. 
Simon started forming a campaign team in March, including John Herrington, former U.S. energy secretary under President Reagan and former chairman of the state Republican Party. 
Of potential primary opponent Jones, Simon said: "He seems like a perfectly nice fellow. ... I just don't think that he provides the contrast to Gray Davis that I do." 
?2001 Associated Press




POLL: Californians dissatisfied with government handling of energy crisis 

Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 Associated Press 
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/05/24/state0922EDT0156.DTL&type=news  
(05-24) 06:22 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- 
Over the past four months, Californians have developed increasingly negative feelings toward state and federal officials and agencies involved in California's energy crisis, according to a Field Poll released Thursday. 
A large number of those surveyed are also fearful that Pacific Gas & Electric's bankruptcy filing will make it more difficult for the company to provide service to its customers. 
Fifty-seven percent of those questioned in May by the Field Institute, a San Francisco-based nonpartisan polling organization, gave California's private electric utilities a poor rating. That's more than the 40 percent of respondents who rated the utilities performance as poor in January. 
The same negative feelings held true for out-of-state energy providers. Fifty-five percent of respondents this month rated their performance as poor, a noticeable increase from the 44 percent of respondents who gave them a poor rating in January. 
Specifically, those surveyed were asked to rate the job being done by officials and groups working to improve the energy situation in the state. 
The poll found that: 
* The percentage of those surveyed who gave the state Public Utilities Commission a poor rating rose from 42 percent in January to 52 percent in May. 
* 41 percent of those surveyed gave the state legislature a poor rating in May, as opposed 36 percent in January. 
* 38 percent gave Gov. Gray Davis a poor rating in May for his handling of the state's energy woes, a sharp increase from 22 percent who gave him a poor rating in January. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also drew negative ratings from respondents. In May, 52 percent said FERC was doing a poor job, as opposed to 40 percent who gave the commission a rating of poor in January. 
Those surveyed were also asked if PG&E's bankruptcy would make it more difficult for the company to supply electricity to customers, and 49 percent said they thought it would. 
The poll, which questioned 1,015 California adults between May 11 and May 20, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, the institute said. 
?2001 Associated Press   



Energy crisis to cast long shadow 
A look at what energy crisis means to future 
Mark Simon 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/MNS121240.DTL&type=news  
What we need to do is tune in, turn off and drop out. 
Tune in to how you use energy. Turn off those things that use electricity. And drop out of the power grid by using alternative power sources and alternatives to power sources. 
That's the only thing we can do in the short term. 
In the long term, you can almost see what will be coming down the pike. 
As the state's energy problems worsen, as the state throws its surplus down a rathole, as our own utility bills skyrocket and as blackouts roll across the state, someone will write a statewide ballot initiative and get it on the ballot. 
It will do two things. 
First, it will undo the deregulation of the state's energy industry. It will try to put everything back the way it was. 
Second, it will punish the producers of power and energy. 
It will levy some new fee or tax or it will regulate the industry as a public utility or it will require that the state take over the industry entirely. 
Huge amounts of money will be spent against it. Opponents will outspend supporters by a substantial amount. 
TV ads will run constantly, predicting dire consequences if the initiative is approved. 
We'll be told it will be bad for business. Labor leaders will tell us that it will cost jobs. Experts will say it will have no effect on the problem, or make the problem worse. 
All of that will probably be true. 
The initiative will pass easily. 
It will pass because it will appear to address what are widely understood as the two main causes of the current energy crisis -- a badly bungled deregulation and unbelievably greedy energy producers. 
It will pass because the initiative's authors will understand that most of us are furious about the way this mess was created and that we're eager to take it out on the industry leaders we see as the leading villains. 
It will pass precisely because all the people who will tell us it shouldn't are the people who got us into this disaster in the first place, and we won't believe them. 
It's much harder to say whether the energy crisis will have more immediate political repercussions for some of the elected officials we might blame for the problem -- such as the state Legislature and Gov. Davis, who could have done something about this a year ago and chose not to. 
Yes, the latest polls make it clear that Californians are furious with Davis and the Legislature. 
But elections for office are not yes/no propositions -- you don't get to vote up or down on Davis. 
They are a contest between two major party candidates, which means elections are always a matter of comparisons -- Davis compared with his opponent. Someone has to come along and convince voters he or she can do the job better than Davis. 
There might, indeed, be such people. It's unlikely one of those people will appear on the ballot in 2002, however. 
The current political landscape is heavily populated with profiles in discouragement -- people who, fearful of losing, lack the nerve to run against a well-financed incumbent. 
The great irony here is that voters thought term limits would solve that problem -- rather than being stuck with a well-financed incumbent, we'd force him out of office. 
In reality, we're stuck with the well-financed incumbent until his term limits are up -- in six or eight years. 
That does nothing to solve the problems that might arise in those six to eight years. It has done nothing to embolden would-be candidates. Now, they just meekly wait their turn. 
And it has made a shambles of the legislative process by populating the Capitol with people who don't know what they're doing, only where they're going next. Meanwhile, the people who do know what they're doing have been kicked out office. 
It's no coincidence that the deregulation mess was made in a Legislature full of people elected during the term-limit era. 
A statewide initiative, brave candidates, ending term limits -- those are all things that will happen in the future. 
Right now, it's time to tune in, turn off and drop out. 
Tune in to what you are doing as an individual consumer -- cast a critical eye at your own habits. 
Turn off your appliances, your lights, your air conditioner and reduce your individual energy consumption. It's much easier than it appears. 
Energy consumption has dropped in my household by more than a third by switching off some lights, converting to fluorescent light bulbs, turning down the refrigerator and connecting some appliances to a power strip, so that they truly are turned off. 
Finally, drop out of the power grid. Look for other ways to power your home -- most notably solar power, which is readily available. 
Find other alternatives to high-consumption appliances, such as clotheslines. 
Drop out. 
They can't gouge you if they can't get to you. 
Simon can be seen 7:30 p.m. Fridays on The Chronicle's "Peninsula This Week" on cable Channel 26, and at other times on local access channels. You can reach him at (650) 299-8071, by fax at (650) 299-9208, or e-mail at msimon@sfchronicle.com . Write him c/ 




Power tips 
Chronicle readers' suggestions for coping with California's energy crisis 
 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/MN59652.DTL&type=news  
I live in Sacramento, where we do use air-conditioning in the summer. I covered two skylights with aluminum foil to keep the heat out. Two east- facing windows have exterior roll-up blinds. . . . I adjusted my pool pump from six hours per day to two hours from 6 to 8 a.m. This saves electricity and puts the usage in the morning, which is not the peak usage. I keep my computer power strip and music/VCR power strip switched off. This alone saves about one kilowatt hour per day. I replaced four of my most used lights with fluorescent bulbs. You really don't need to change all of your bulbs, just the ones that are on for several hours per day. So far, I've cut about one-third of my usage, with very little lifestyle change. 
Martin R. Fraser 
Sacramento 
Household air conditioners are energy guzzlers. Consider, instead, the merits of an evaporative cooler (a.k.a. swamp cooler), ideal in low-humidity locales such as California. They consume only about 25 percent of what it would take to operate an air conditioner. 
Martha Kimmich 
Walnut Creek 
The suggestion that a frost-free refrigerator's compressor will run less if ice cubes are put in Tupperware because it won't waste energy trying to "defrost" trays of ice cubes is pure nonsense. The duration of the defrost cycle is controlled by a timer, which turns on a heater for a fixed duration of time daily. Putting ice in Tupperware will, in fact, prevent the cubes from "evaporating" (technically - sublimating) as they do when left in their trays for long periods, and as such is a good idea - but not because the compressor will run less. 
Jack Petit 
The five major league baseball teams in California need to move to a day- only schedule for the rest of the year. That will also mean no Monday night games for the NFL teams this fall or winter. . . . No more private and public tennis clubs leaving their lights on their courts late into the night. . . . Attempt to combine or limit the venues in which public meetings are held. Often these halls are overly well-lighted, with only a few citizens attending. Reduce hours amusement parks are opened, and reduce the amount of lighting in underused areas. Limit the hours movie theaters are open. The matinees are sparsely attended, but use a lot of power to light and cool the theater. 
Hugh Cavanaugh 
When is San Francisco going to catch up with the rest of America and begin to install high-density sodium vapor lamps (the "yellow light") in place of all of its outside public lighting? They use one-third the energy of "white light" and put out three times the light. Also, if the state would give building owners a tax incentive to install "motion sensor"-controlled lighting systems, all these empty office buildings' lights could safely be shut off at night when these large buildings are empty. 
Rollin W. Roberts 
Require that all businesses keep their doors shut when open for business. One day recently on upper Market Street when it was 55 degrees and windy, I took a tally and 60 percent of the businesses had their doors open. 
Bill Choisser 
San Francisco 
After your dishwasher has completed the wash cycle, open the door, pull out the racks and there will be a big whoosh of steam. The hot temperature of the dishes and glasses themselves (from the wash cycle) creates instant evaporation. In a minute your dishes are dry and cool. The only reason for a drying cycle is because they're enclosed. 
Dan Lucas 
(One reader) wrote she turns off all her large appliances, including TV/VCR, 
at the breaker box, when not in use. These appliances do not use power when the switches are off, except maybe a clock. Most circuit breakers are not rated for switching purposes. They are for over-current protection only. Over time you will damage them with continual on/off switching. 
Tom DeMerritt 
Send your comments and suggestions to Energy Desk, San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103; or send e-mail to energysaver@sfchronicle.com . 




Davis to order 1-hour notice of blackouts 
Plan also in works to give law enforcement even earlier alerts 
Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/MN2963.DTL&type=news  
Sacramento -- Gov. Gray Davis will issue an executive order today requiring that Californians be given at least one hour's notice before blackouts hit, according to a top administration official. 
The one-hour notice is double what the California Independent System Operator, managers of the state's electrical grid, proposed earlier this week. The ISO board is scheduled to discuss its plan at a meeting today. 
Details of Davis' plan were still being worked out, said the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But any plan would have to order the ISO to give more notice of potential blackouts. 
Davis also hopes to give 48-hour and then 24-hour notices of probable blackout scenarios. Administration officials said the two-day notice would go to law enforcement, while everyone would get a 24-hour warning. 
Business groups welcomed the executive order. 
"We need to plan, we need to make adjustments in business schedules," said Jeanne Cain, vice president for government relations for the California Chamber of Commerce. "There are concerns about employee safety issues. The more notice we have, the better we can accommodate the blackout." 
Carl Guardino, an ISO board member and president of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, has been pushing for an advanced notification plan and working with the governor. 
"Sixty minutes is twice as good" as 30 minutes, he said. 
With little doubt that blackouts will hit this summer, lawmakers have been searching for a way to make them easier on residents and businesses. 
"As much notice as possible would be helpful. It's helpful to have some advance notice for planning purposes, but small businesses will still be hurt by the blackouts," said Shirley Knight, assistant state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. 
"Most small businesses are in the service sector so they're open during the day, which means small-business owners aren't going to be able to recoup those blackout costs like a manufacturer might be able to," Knight said. 
But one consumer group said Davis should be doing more to stop the blackouts from happening in the first place. 
"It's like saying you're going to know a half hour earlier that an earthquake is coming," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "We should be stopping blackouts by standing up to the energy generators, rather than giving us an extra 30 minutes." 
'POWER WATCH' 
The Independent System Operator's proposed plan for forecasting potential blackouts envisions a system that would provide a 24-hour notice of high- demand days. A "Power Watch" would be declared whenever a Stage 1 or Stage 2 alert is likely, while a "Power Warning" would be issued whenever there is at least a 50 percent chance of a Stage 3 alert, when electricity reserves drop below 1.5 percent. 
Until now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning of blackouts, saying it did not want to alarm people when there was still a chance that a last-minute purchase of power could stave off blackouts. 
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it would welcome the advance notice to be able to notify customers who rely on electricity for life-critical equipment and large businesses. 
"We welcome advance notice from the ISO that would allow us to communicate to customers about pending rotating outages," said Ron Low, a spokesman for 
PG&E.
The public safety aspect must be taken into account, said one consumer group. 
"Blackouts have serious consequences, not just economic," said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco. "They create public safety hazards, and all of those issues cannot be addressed from warnings. But knowing in advance is better." 
E-MAIL ALERTS
The ISO also has been working to upgrade its Web site to provide the most current information about how much electricity is being used and how much is available. It will also establish a system this summer through which that information can be sent in an hourly e-mail. 
This information may make it easier for larger users of electricity to plan their operations. 
Enlightening advice to prepare for blackouts Here's some advice from PG&E and local utilities about how to prepare for blackouts: 
-- Have a flashlight and radio with fresh batteries available. If you light candles, observe the usual safety precautions. 
-- If the lights go out, check with neighbors to determine if your home alone is affected. It may be a downed power line or some other problem, in which case you should alert PG&E or your city electrical bureau. 
-- Unplug or turn off all appliances, TVs and computers. Leave one light on to warn you when the power comes back on. 
-- When the power returns, turn one appliance on at a time to prevent power surges. 
-- Don't plug a generator into the wall; when the lights return, it can send a high-voltage current through the system that can electrocute power workers. 
-- Don't open your refrigerator, so your food will remain cold. 
-- Tell children who are home alone to remain calm, turn off the TV and computers and not to use candles. 
Chronicle staff writer Greg Lucas contributed to this report. / E-mail Lynda Gledhill at lgledhill@sfchronicle.com . 




Californians angry across the board in energy crisis 
Poll rates Bush worse than Davis 
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/MN222247.DTL&type=news  
  
Californians are increasingly unhappy with the way Gov. Gray Davis has handled the state's power crunch, but he has plenty of company in their energy doghouse, a Field Poll shows. 
The state's power companies, out-of-state energy providers, President Bush and the Legislature all come out worse than Davis in the survey. 
"Davis' ratings have gone down, but a lot of others are given lower ratings" when people are asked to rank how the politicians and institutions are handling the state's energy situation, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. 
Growing worries about the seriousness of the power problem have sent ratings skidding for anyone connected with the energy business. 
"Everyone has gotten tarred," DiCamillo said. 
A solid 57 percent of those surveyed believe that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and the state's other private electric utilities have done a poor or very poor job with the energy problem, with out-of-state power providers ranked almost as low. But 54 percent also put Bush's efforts in the poor/very poor category, and 52 percent consigned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the same level. 
The growing disdain for the federal energy program probably can be linked with the president's refusal to back limits on energy prices, which are supported by a wide range of California residents, DiCamillo said. 
"To the extent that federal officials are seen as not bending on that issue, " he said, "I suspect that their ratings will continue to be rather dismal." 
The survey showed that Davis has had some success in his attempt to deflect the blame for California's energy woes from his office, but there are indications that that strategy may not work forever. 
Although 41 percent thought the governor was doing a good or very good job with the power crisis in January, that number fell to 27 percent in the new survey. The percentage of residents giving him poor or very poor marks jumped to 38 percent, up from 22 percent in January. 
The survey was conducted May 11 to May 20 of 1,015 California residents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. 
In the survey, Californians were quick to congratulate themselves on their own response to the energy problem. The poll showed that 39 percent believe residential energy consumers are doing a good or very good job responding to the problem, up from 26 percent in January. 
"People think they're making an effort to conserve," DiCamillo said. "In the public's eye, it's everyone else that is not doing what they should be doing." 
The survey also shows that the public has few illusions about the seriousness of the energy crunch. More than 80 percent believe it will be a year or more before the energy crisis is resolved, and more than half are convinced it will take at least two years to ensure a steady supply of electricity. 
"The gravity of the situation is such that the public is bracing itself for a long haul," DiCamillo said. "The state hasn't been able to fix the problem in a hurry, and people don't believe it's going to happen." 
The survey also showed that nearly half the state's residents believe that PG&E's bankruptcy will make it harder to continue to supply electricity to its customers while 59 percent say it would be a serious problem if businesses began to leave the state because of the possibility of blackouts. 
Concern about the continuing energy problem was strong across the state, DiCamillo said. 
"This is recognized as a major statewide issue," he said. "People think it will have an effect on them, regardless of where they live." 

E-mail John Wildermuth at jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com . 
CHART (1):

Field Poll/Performance rating

May 2001 rating of the job being done by officials and groups in their 
attempts to improve the energy situation in California. 

Ranked in order of negative appraisals
                 Good/Very good   Fair   Poor/Very poor  No opinion
California's private electric utilities
                       15%         24%       57%            4% 
Out-of-state energy providers
                       17          20        55             8 
President George W. Bush
                       22          20        54             4
Federal Energy Regulatory Comm.
                       13          26        52             9 
State Public Utilities Comm.
                       14          28        52             6 
Vice President Dick Cheney
                       17          25        43            15
State Legislature      16          34        41             9 
Gov. Gray Davis        27          32        38             3 
U.S. Energy Sec. Spencer Abraham
                       16          26        37            19
Ind. and bus. energy consumers
                       27          33        34             6
Residential energy consumers
                       39          33        22             6

The Field Poll was conducted between May 11and May 20 with a statewide 
telephone sample of 1,015 adults in either English or Spanish. According to 
statistical theory, 95% of the sample would have an error of +/ 3.2 percentage 
points.
Source: The Field Poll
Chronicle Graphic


CHART (2):

  Field Poll/ Resolving the energy crisis
How long will it take before the energy crisis is resolved and steady supplies 
of electricity (no blackouts) can be assured?
    8%    No opinion
   10%    > 5 years
   10%    6 mos
   11%    4-5 years
   13%    3 years
   24%    2 years
   24%    1 year
Source: The Field Poll, May 11-20, 2001
Chronicle Graphic





OAKLAND 
Council lowers hurdles to renewable energy 
 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/MN189126.DTL&type=news  
To encourage Oaklanders to take advantage of renewable energy, the city will waive fees and expedite plans for residents and business owners who want to install solar panels or other alternative energy generators. 
Previously, getting the necessary permits could take as long as eight weeks and cost more than $1,000. 
But under a measure proposed by Mayor Jerry Brown and approved Tuesday night by the Oakland City Council, the design review process will be waived if the equipment installation meets certain requirements, such as matching the pitch of a sloped roof. Permits will be free. 
Compiled from Chronicle staff reports 




THE ENERGY CRUNCH 
New tips on power squeezing 
Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer 
Thursday, May 24, 2001 
?2001 San Francisco Chronicle  
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/24/BU190766.DTL&type=news  
If you want to wrap yourself in the flag these days, there's no better way than by promoting energy conservation. 
Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories held a news conference yesterday to highlight new technologies and information sources to help consumers and businesses cut down on electricity use this summer. 
Flanked by tiny models of buildings with white roofs (up to 45 degrees cooler than dark ones), big charts showing U.S. energy flow and an array of "energy vampire" devices such as battery chargers that suck power whenever they're plugged in, earnest researchers discussed ways Californians can reduce their electricity use by 20 percent this summer. 
Meeting the goal has a big payoff, besides the obvious one of averting blackouts: Under the governor's 20/20 Rebate Plan, those who conserve 20 percent this summer compared with the same months last year will not only shave that amount off their bills, but also get an equivalent rebate from the state -- essentially saving 40 percent. 
The technologies were a combination of new twists on humble objects and futuristic geeks-only inventions: 
-- WEB SITES. For folks who want to get a taste of the high-wire act lived every day by California grid operators, energycrisis.lbl.gov  gives real-time data on the current supply and demand for electricity in the state. When you see the purple line (forecast load) start to hover near the red line (potential capacity), you know it's time to turn off the lights and hit the Save button. 
Lawrence Berkeley Lab is sponsoring three Web pages -- savepower.lbl.gov , HomeEnergySaver.lbl.gov  and HomeImprovementTool.lbl.gov  -- that offer customized conservation tips based on the user's climate and type of house -- saving 8 percent by using clotheslines instead of a dryer, for example. 
-- LAMPS. Lawrence Berkeley scientists have created the eponymous "Berkeley lamp," expected to go on sale in July for under $150. It's a high-performance table lamp with two fluorescent bulbs that together use less than 110 watts, but provide light equivalent to 300 or 400 watts. The lamp provides both "uplight," for illuminating an entire room, and "downlight," for close tasks such as reading. To be manufactured by Light Corp. of Minnesota, it will be sold through the company's Web site at www.lightcorp.com . 
Another, existing lamp -- a floor-standing torchere that uses compact fluorescent bulbs instead of halogen bulbs -- is widely available in hardware and lighting stores from a variety of manufacturers. 
-- WINDOWS. "Low-emissivity" windows look as transparent as regular glass but reflect infrared light, reducing heat transmission. The technology is now available in about 40 percent of windows sold. Consumers can recognize energy- efficient windows by a government "Energy Star" label; more information is available at www.efficientwindows.org . 
-- SCI-FI CHANNEL. At Lawrence Livermore Lab, scientists have been working on technology that's not for average users, but could eventually bring us up to date with the Jetsons. 
Technologies include electromechanical (flywheel) batteries, which can bridge the gap when the power goes off, thereby protecting sensitive electronic equipment. 
Then there are solid oxide fuel cells, which produce energy from fuel without using combustion -- a technology of the future, both for vehicles and stationary power. 
The Livermore researchers are also studying ways to make geothermal energy (which accounts for 6 percent of California's supply) more efficient and methods to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel generators. 
Further out, scientists hope to be able to store electricity, so energy from wind farms, for example, could be used at the times it's needed the most, instead of only when the weather cooperates. 
E-mail Carolyn Said at csaid@sfchronicle.com . 






House panel calls off vote on Calif power bill WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee has called off, at least temporarily, a vote on legislation to aid California and other states during this summer's expected electricity shortage.  Rep. Billy Tauzin, the Louisiana Republican chairman of the committee, said lawmakers needed more time to seek a bipartisan deal to get agreement on immediate help for power-starved California and the West.  ``We may be on the verge of a very solid bipartisan agreement,'' Tauzin said.  He hoped that talks on Thursday would allow a vote on the pending legislation as early as today.  The legislation was written by Republicans to reduce demand and encourage more supply of power in California this summer. Many Democrats on the committee objected to the bill, saying it needed a provision to cap wholesale prices in the entire Western region or else it fails to help the situation.  Republican lawmakers, along with the Bush administration, strongly oppose price controls.	








Davis proposal for more diesel power draws environmental criticism LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California would get a little power and a lot of pollution from a proposal being considered by Gov. Gray Davis that would pay owners of backup generators to produce electricity.  The proposal, one of several options the governor is considering, would pay for diesel power -- which at its dirtiest is 500 times more polluting than the cleanest natural gas power plants -- when electricity supplies are stretched.  ``If backup generators were to be used, it would only be as a last resort to avoid blackouts,'' said Davis spokesman Roger Salazar. ``Unfortunately, we are in an emergency situation. Everything is on the table.''  California's persistent power shortage has led to rolling blackouts around the state several times this year, with more anticipated when hot summer weather prompts people to use air conditioning.  If all of the state's backup generators ran full time, they would produce about 425 tons of nitrogen dioxide per day. That's more than nine times the pollution power plants produced on an average day in 1999, according to state Air Resources Board data.  And the state would get only about 550 megawatts of electricity -- barely 1 percent of the state's peak power needs -- from the backup generators. That would be enough to power about 550,000 homes.  ``They could have a huge negative effect on air quality,'' said Ellen Garvey, executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management Agency. ``It's one thing to run these generators during blackouts and emergency conditions, but using them for other purposes could be devastating.''  Business groups that support the proposal include the League of Food Processors, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association and San Diego Gas & Electric.  ``These generators could go a long way to taking some demand off the electric grid and putting some supply back into the power system,'' said Gino DiCaro, spokesman for the manufacturers and technology association.  Most of the state's 17,200 backup generators are small units that run on diesel fuel and lack pollution controls. Some are rentals, and others can be found at hospitals, office buildings, sewage treatment plants and university labs.  Unlike backup generators intended for home use, which are not regulated, industrial-sized units are limited in the number of hours they can operate. But since the state's power crunch began, regional air-quality regulators have issued emergency rules allowing them to run more frequently.  Diesel engines produce carcinogenic soot and oxides of nitrogen -- a building block of asthma-inducing smog.	










   Small generators fight for payment from utilities  Posted at 11:24 p.m. PDT Wednesday, May 23, 2001  BY JENNIFER BJORHUS   Mercury News    BAKERSFIELD -- A gray cat picks its way through the lot of Oildale Energy, a small natural gas-fired power plant on the city's gritty northeast edge. The clamor of machinery and trucks -- sounds that meant prosperity here -- is gone. Employees have painted Oildale's machinery, insulated the boilers and tweaked the motionless 13-ton turbine.  Now they wait.  ``It's kind of like a skeleton,'' says plant manager Mike Pankratz, surveying the octopus-tangle of pipes and tanks.  Choked by the $10 million Pacific Gas & Electric Co. owes it, Oildale shut down Feb. 6, taking its 40 megawatts of badly needed electricity with it. The hush here is the sound of small generators locked in one of the most serious issues of California's energy crisis -- one that state regulators plan to wrestle with today.  Oildale is part of a growing legion of small generators, from geothermal to gas-fired co-generation plants, battling California's utilities and state price controls they say are crippling them. These small generators, owed about $1.5 billion, supply up to a third of California's electricity.  At least 25 have sued Southern California Edison over unpaid bills. Four have sued PG&E. And PG&E's bankruptcy proceedings in San Francisco are clogged with motions from at least 19 small generators, including Oildale. In many cases, these companies want to end their long-term supply contracts with the utilities so they can sell their electricity on the more lucrative open market.  ``What this is, basically, is the revolt of the mice,'' said Bill Short with Ridgewood Power Management, a New Jersey firm that has shuttered three gas-fired generators in California and sued PG&E.  Officials to weigh debt  The companies are hoping for action from the California Public Utilities Commission, which is scheduled today to weigh whether to order the utilities to pay the back debt. Meanwhile, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali wades through motions filed by disgruntled generators and counter motions from PG&E.  The deteriorating finances of some of the approximately 690 small generators threatens California's fragile power supply just as the state heads into the summer months up to 3,700 megawatts short.  The deep and often unexpected economic impacts of California's energy crunch add up daily. In Oildale's case, the shutdown not only jeopardizes the jobs of its 10 anxious employees, but those of more than 150 employees at the refinery next door.  It's one of the biggest public policy botches in the energy crisis, some energy experts argue. California is shooting itself in the foot by not attending to the relatively clean and efficient small power suppliers in its own back yard, they say. Gas-fired co-generation plants, which provide power to nearby businesses and sell electricity to utilities, are some of the most efficient producers in the state. And many of the small generators harness renewable resources like the sun and garbage fumes, lessening the state's dependence on high-priced natural gas.  ``The idea that we're refusing to step in and help them while we're paying through the nose to pay Dynegy and Williams and everybody else, this is just nuts,'' said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute, mentioning companies that own major power plants in the state. ``This is really a major blunder.''  The immediate crisis started in late January, Oildale's Pankratz explained. That's when PG&E told the plant it was not going to pay for electricity delivered in December. The news worried Oildale's gas supplier, Pankratz said, which halted the plant's supply.  Pankratz turned off the plant's turbine.  The move socked Golden Bear Oil Specialties, the refinery that looms over Oildale. Unable to operate without the cheap steam heat Oildale supplies, Golden Bear cannot heat the asphalt and industrial oils it produces. Golden Bear filed for bankruptcy April 23. Last week it announced plans to lay off 172 employees.  Golden Bear Chairman Carl Soderlind said Oildale, Golden Bear's exclusive source of steam heat for nearly 20 years, was a key reason his group bought the refinery four years ago. Having it go under was ``gut-wrenching,'' he said.  Power unavailable  The California Independent System Operator, keeper of the state's electricity grid, reports that 1,400 megawatts of power from small generators are off line. It estimates that about half of that -- 700 megawatts, or energy for as many as 700,000 homes -- is due to the financial squeeze of natural gas prices, money owed by the utilities or both. Others say financial problems have 1,100 megawatts off line.  Lawmakers haven't been much help. The state Assembly on March 22 rejected a hastily crafted rescue bill meant to help buttress these companies. The issue has languished in Sacramento.  Days later, the utilities commission ordered California's utilities to pay the generators for electricity delivered in the future -- which saved many of them -- but it did not order the utilities to pay the hefty back-due amounts. It also set a new rate for what utilities should pay the generators for electricity. That price is 22 percent lower and too low for business, some argue.  The commission's position has been that the small generators should abide by their existing contracts, said commission attorney Gary Cohen: ``To the extent that some of them are facing financial hardship, the commission may take a look at whether it can do anything to help them vis-a-vis the back debt.''  The lack of stronger action to support these generators baffles some critics.  ``It's like talking to a starving man on a desert island and saying, `How long can you hold up until the ship comes?' '' said V. John White, director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.  Some of the companies have appealed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but regulators are waiting to see if the state and the courts can resolve the issue.  ``We're in what essentially amounts to an abusive relationship,'' said Short with Ridgewood, the independent generator that has sued PG&E.  Two courts have allowed generators fighting Edison to suspend their contracts. Five have lost their fights. Another five have won the right to put a lien on Edison's assets.  In PG&E's battle, three of the four lawsuits are on hold because of the bankruptcy. In the fourth, a judge allowed a generator out of the contract it had terminated before the bankruptcy.  As for Oildale, it wants PG&E to pay the $10.5 million it owes or Oildale wants to sell its electricity on the open market. It also wants PG&E to pay what it calls ``a fair market value'' for its electricity.  If Oildale can't sell on the open market soon, it will be forced into bankruptcy, its attorneys argue. Pankratz estimates his plant can hang in limbo only three more months.  PG&E is fighting to keep its small generators, which it says are exaggerating their damage. It reports that only a tiny fraction of its 300 generators are off line.  Increased costs  If the plants were released from their contracts, PG&E could not afford to pay the extra $284 million per month it estimates electricity would cost. The state Department of Water Resources -- and ultimately ratepayers -- would have to foot that bill.  A fast solution isn't likely from the bankruptcy court. The judge has made it clear the generators raise a host of complicated legal questions.  Meanwhile, the clock ticks.  ``We've all been a little tense,'' says Judy Andreatta, who has worked Oildale's front desk for 10 years and worries about her job. ``It's just so scary watching everything happen. Who'd ever think we'd lose power?'' 	








      Electricity notebook  FERC may renew price caps  May 24, 2001  From Register wire services  Federal regulators this week announced that they might reimpose caps on the cost of transporting natural gas into southern California.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday gave the public 20 days to comment on the possibility of reinstating caps, which were temporarily suspended by the commission this year. The price controls were lifted in an effort to expand the reach of deregulation.  This proposed action, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., "could make a real difference."  "Since FERC engaged in this experimental lifting of the cap, the price of natural gas in Southern California has climbed to three times higher than the rest of the nation,'' said Feinstein. Currently, she said, the price in Southern California is $12.59 per million British Thermal Units and only $3.70 in the rest of the Western region. Gas fuels most electricity-generating plants in the state.  The commission also asked for comment on whether the caps should be limited to California or include other Western markets.   	







      Legislators search for a Plan B for Edison  Davis' tack is politically volatile. The aim still is to steer clear of bankruptcy.  May 24, 2001  By HANH KIM QUACH  and KATE BERRY The Orange County Register  SACRAMENTO Lawmakers this week will seek to swap the deal Gov. Gray Davis made to rescue the state's No. 2 utility from financial ruin with something more politically palatable.  Davis' deal, some have complained, is sweeter for Southern California Edison than for taxpayers. So at least four proposals are being floated to supplant that plan. But legislators are far from a consensus on any of them. Plans emerge, recede and are reconfigured daily.  Energy experts and bankruptcy lawyers warn that too much legislative fiddling could result in what neither side wants: bankruptcy for Edison.  Bankruptcy means the state would be stuck buying energy until both Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric - which is already in bankruptcy - complete the Chapter 11 process, which could take years, experts and lawmakers said.  The state's wallet would shrink, affecting its ability to build schools and roads. Ratepayers might be on the hook for an additional $1 billion for the company's legal fees, because bankruptcy would freeze its assets, said Brian Bennett, vice president of Edison International, the utility's parent company.  Southern California Edison has said it's willing to be flexible on the governor's plan, which calls for the state to buy Edison's transmission grid for $2.76 billion. Company officials wouldn't comment on the various alternatives.  "We understand that the transmission deal is the subject of controversy and are open to variations on it,'' Bennett said.  Steve Maviglio, Davis' spokesman, said the governor also remained committed to his deal.  "Edison is going to survive,'' said Mitch Wilk, a member of the state Public Utilities Commission from 1986 through 1991 and a past president of the agency. But the question is "whether it will survive via the (plan) that the governor negotiated or they do the same kind of thing PG&E did."  "There is still a very real risk that SCE will be forced into bankruptcy if the Legislature tinkers too much with the deal, or fails to move ahead promptly,'' Wilk said.  PG&E chose to file Chapter 11 last month because it was dissatisfied with the progress of negotiations with Davis on a state rescue of the company. PG&E's move was an embarrassment for Davis, who had vowed to keep the state's big utilities solvent.  "One of the principal chips Edison has with the state is not filing for bankruptcy,'' said Ed Feo, a lawyer involved with the PG&E case. "It would be a black eye for the state. As long as the company stays out of bankruptcy, they have something to trade."  Edison's creditors are still waiting to see how the utility fares with the Legislature. Some have agreed to defer receiving payments until the end of June.  Dean Vanech, president of New Jersey-based Carson Cogeneration, said a lot of things need to happen before he and other creditors feel ready to drag Edison into bankruptcy.  "In general, we would have to feel like there was absolutely no hope in a deal being made,'' Vanech said. But, he admitted, "there's a concern that a resolution will not be put on the table in any reasonable period of time.''Meanwhile, Edison has vigorously lobbied the Legislature to approve the transmission deal. The company has launched a public-relations campaign to persuade the public that it is in its interest, said John Bryson, chief executive of Edison International.  "Bankruptcy is a last resort,'' Bryson said in a recent interview. "We believe there will be a solution.''  But changes are necessary, said Senate Leader John Burton, D-San Francisco, "because people didn't like Plan A.''  Lawmakers cringed at some elements of the plan, which many thought was overly generous to Edison: limiting investigation of the utility's parent's company and guaranteeing the company an 11.6 percent annual return on investment.  Alternatives include: requiring power generators to accept up to one-third less than the collective $3.5 billion they're owed; taxing Edison on its property and using the tax to pay off its debts; and allowing Edison to build more power plants. The latest proposal would require the state to sell bonds to pay off Edison's debts and give the state the option to buy the transmission lines later. Most of the proposals would require an extra surcharge on ratepayers bills to pay off debts.  One hurdle the legislature faces: rallying two-thirds of each house behind one plan, necessary any time the state spends money. Republicans have been philosophically opposed to acquiring transmission lines, and half the alternatives include that element.  But Stanford University professor James Sweeney thinks compromise is possible. Lawmakers and the utility will strike a deal simply because a second bankruptcy would tarnish the image of the state's political leaders. Sweeney believes, however, the outcome might be more fair in court.  "Bankruptcies are messy ... but so is the political process,'' Sweeney said. "We're in a situation where the leadership (politically) seems not willing to bite the bullet. It may be better for our state to have a bankruptcy judge who is very strong and who isn't planning for a higher office.''   	








      Long Beach obtains lien on Edison's assets  The city is the fourth small supplier with an attachment on the utility.  May 24, 2001  By KATE BERRY The Orange County Register  The city of Long Beach became the fourth small power supplier to get a lien against the assets of Southern California Edison, a move that could push the utility closer to bankruptcy.  Last week, Edison was ordered to freeze at least $9 million in bank accounts to cover payments owed to Long Beach for power Edison bought from the city's trash-to-energy plant.  Getting a lien on the utility's assets ensures the city will be paid, even if the utility files for bankruptcy.  Stephen Pickett, Edison International's general counsel, said the utility plans to appeal.  Long Beach also is suing Edison International, the utility's parent company, for breach of contract, claiming the utility should not have transferred $4.7 billion to its parent company over a four-year period beginning in 1996, when deregulation was implemented.  "Edison International was required to honor the debts of its subsidiary,'' said Robert Shannon, Long Beach's city attorney.  So far, Edison has been sued by 27 small power suppliers, known as qualifying facilities, or QFs. The lawsuits either seek to put a lien on the utility's assets to recover unpaid debts or attempt to terminate 20-year contracts to provide power to Edison.  Edison owes QFs about $1 billion and is trying to combine the cases before a single judge in Los Angeles.  But Long Beach differs from other power suppliers because it wants to stay in its contract with Edison.  "We just want to be paid under our contract. We still want to deliver them power,'' said Shannon.  As a municipality, Long Beach also did not have to post a bond to obtain a lien as the other QFs must.  Ed Feo, a lawyer for wind, solar and biomass QFs, said liens on Edison's assets could have a domino effect.  "Two things will accelerate a bankruptcy filing by Edison: Either the deal to sell its transmission lines (to the state) is going nowhere and alternatives are not acceptable - or if attachments are made to the company's property that the utility doesn't want to run the risk of losing.''  Three other QFs have posted bonds to obtain liens against Edison. They include Caithness Energy, which got a lien on Edison's 56 percent interest in two qualifying facilities that make up the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev.; IMC Chemicals, a unit of IMC Global Inc. of Northbrook, Ill., and that won a $7 million lien; and Herber Geothermal Co. and Second Imperial Geothermal Co., which is owned by Covanta Energy Corp., a former unit of Ogden Corp., based in Fairfield, N.J.   	







      Poll: 59% in state favor nuclear power  It's a reversal of views since the Three Mile Island accident.  May 24, 2001   The Associated Press  Fifty-nine percent of Californians now support building more nuclear plants, according to a poll released Wednesday.  The last time the Field Institute polled Californians about nuclear energy was 1984 - five years after the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania - and it found 61 percent opposed to nuclear power.  "In my interpretation, the current energy crisis has some bearing on the public's changed attitudes on nuclear power," said Mark DiCamillo, spokesman for the nonpartisan polling organization.  "The public is searching for clean ways to add to the capacity."  The Field poll comes as the Bush administration pushes for a renewed look at nuclear power. No utilities have ordered any new nuclear power plants in the United States since 1978.  The poll of 1,015 California adults was taken May 11-20. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.  Carl Zichella, the Sierra Club's regional staff director, said Californians have not thought about nuclear energy for about 20 years and do not have as much information as they did around Three Mile Island.  "I think this number really reflects a lack of knowledge on the part of the public about the problems that drove nuclear power underground," he said.  "The more people know about nuclear power, the less they're going to like it."  Getting a new nuclear plant built faces two major problems: financing and siting, said Rich Ferguson, research director for the Sacramento- based Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology.  "We have just not seen any interest in the financial community to invest the billions of dollars," he said.   	





Filing for Hayward Project Includes Request for Expedited Review


PLEASANTON, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- San Jose-based, Calpine
Corporation (NYSE: CPN) and San Francisco-based, Bechtel Enterprises Holdings,
Inc. today filed an Application For Certification (AFC) with the California
Energy Commission (CEC) for its proposed Russell City Energy Center in
Hayward, Calif.  The filing marks the beginning of an extensive CEC licensing
process required to build and operate an electricity generating facility in
California.  The filing included a request for expedited review that would
reduce the licensing review process period from 12 months to 6 months.


The proposed Russell City Energy Center would be a 600-megawatt, natural
gas-fired, combined-cycle electric generating facility located on
approximately 14 acres of land, zoned heavy industrial, at 3636 Enterprise
Avenue in Hayward.  The site is adjacent to the city of Hayward's wastewater
treatment plant, which would supply recycled water to the Energy Center. The
Russell City Energy Center would provide needed electricity for Hayward,
western Alameda County and the San Francisco Peninsula.


The modern technology used at the facility would allow for a greater than
90 percent reduction of certain emissions and is 40 percent more
fuel-efficient compared to older gas-fueled facilities in the Bay Area.


"The Russell City Energy Center will provide a vital new source of clean,
reliable electricity in the region," said Curt Hildebrand, vice president and
general manager of the Calpine/Bechtel Joint Development.  "We look forward to
working with the City of Hayward, Alameda County and the California Energy
Commission to develop a model Energy Center."


Submittal of the AFC represents the culmination of more than six months of
extensive engineering, technical and environmental studies.


"We are hopeful that the considerable groundwork that we have laid thus
far will make this project eligible for the six month CEC review process,"
Hildebrand added.  "We are seeking the expedited review to do everything we
can to help solve the state's energy crisis as quickly as possible."


Once the CEC determines that the application is complete, and determine
whether the project qualifies for the expedited review process, the official
review will begin.  As lead agency, the CEC will work with environmental and
government agencies in conducting its review and will hold local workshops and
hearings to encourage community participation. The expedited review process
would require the same environmental and technical standards as the longer
review period.  Based upon the successful licensing of the project,
construction could begin in summer of 2002, with commercial operation by
summer of 2004.


Copies of the AFC filings will be available through the CEC and at local
libraries. Summaries of the study will be posted on the Russell City Energy
Center website (www.russellcityenergycenter.com).  To receive additional
information on the CEC process, visit their website at www.energy.ca.gov.  For
more information on the Russell City Energy Center, call 510-704-8475.


Calpine Corporation, based in San Jose, Calif., is dedicated to providing
customers with reliable and competitively priced electricity.  Calpine is
focused on clean, efficient, natural gas-fired generation and is the world's
largest producer of renewable geothermal energy.  Calpine has launched the
largest power development program in North America.  To date, the company has
approximately 32,300 megawatts of base load capacity and 7,000 megawatts of
peaking capacity in operation, under construction, pending acquisitions and in
announced development in 29 states and Canada.  The company was founded in
1984 and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
CPN.  For more information about Calpine, visit its Website at
www.calpine.com.


Bechtel Enterprises Holdings, Inc. is the development, financing and
ownership affiliate of the Bechtel organization, a global engineering and
construction firm.  Bechtel has been at the center of energy development since
the 1940's, having built more than 450 power stations with a total generating
capacity exceeding 250,000 megawatts.  Through its power development
affiliate, InterGen, and its own portfolio, Bechtel Enterprises has more than
17,600 megawatts of energy capacity in operations, under construction, or in
advanced development around the world.


This news release discusses certain matters that may be considered
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding the intent, belief or
current expectations of Calpine Corporation ("the Company") and its
management. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of
risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results such as,
but not limited to, (i) changes in government regulations, including pending
changes in California, and anticipated deregulation of the electric energy
industry, (ii) commercial operations of new plants that may be delayed or
prevented because of various development and construction risks, such as a
failure to obtain financing and the necessary permits to operate or the
failure of third-party contractors to perform their contractual obligations,
(iii) cost estimates that are preliminary and which actual cost may be higher
than estimated, (iv) the assurance that the Company will develop additional
plants, (v) a competitor's development of a lower-cost gas-fired power plant,
(vi) receipt of regulatory approvals or (vii) the risks associated with
marketing and selling power from power plants in the newly competitive energy
market. Prospective investors are also referred to the other risks identified
from time to time in the Company's reports and registration statements filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here


http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X51996376


SOURCE  Calpine Corporation



CONTACT:  Lisa Poelle, Public Relations Manager of Calpine/Bechtel Joint
Development, 408-995-5115, ext. 1285
Web site:  http://www.russellcityenergycenter.com
Web site:  http://www.calpine.com
(CPN)





California Governor Signs Bill to Speed Up Approval for Power Plants



LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Governor of California Gray
Davis on Tuesday signed a bill to speed up the process of approving construction
of new power plants as a way to fight the ongoing power shortage.

"California is in a war with energy producers, and the best long-term weapon is
to build more power plants," Davis said at a signing ceremony in Elk Grove,
California.


The bill will shorten the application process for a new or remodeled power
plant, as well as the time that local governments have to review proposals.


Davis said the new bill will speed up two energy projects that are in the
process right now, including a 900-megawatt plant in Palm Springs and a gas
storage project in Lodi that will store up to 12 billion cubic feet of natural
gas.


California has been suffering from a power crisis since last year, which has
caused repeated blackouts and sent the power rate spiraling.


The crisis is largely blamed on the 1996 deregulation law that forces the
utilities to buy electricity from the wholesale market at higher rates than they
charge the customers. And the repairs of generators in some power plants and the
warming weather have made things worse.


After the heavily indebted utilities could no longer afford to buying power
anymore, the state government has used more than 7 billion dollars of tax money
so far this year to buy electricity on behalf of them.


Among other measures to ease the power shortage, the state government has called
for residents to conserve electricity as much as they can, especially during the
peak-hours during the day.Residents have been told to brace for a worse
situation during the incoming summer.








From the Oakland Tribune 5/24
 
Lockyer: Probe may spark suit 
Criminal charges could follow evidence of price gouging 
By Steve Geissinger
SACRAMENTO BUREAU 
SACRAMENTO -- State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said Wednesday his investigation of alleged multibillion-dollar price gouging by power generators has laid the foundation for a successful civil case that could win huge refunds. 
"But the whole house hasn't been built," Lockyer said in an interview with ANG Newspapers. 
The attorney general said the probe he expects to complete in the next eight weeks also may yet yield criminal charges, which could result in power company officials being locked up "with my tattooed dude." 
Lockyer, a former East Bay legislator, rattled electricity suppliers earlier this week when he told the Wall Street Journal: "I would love to personally escort (Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth) Lay to an 8 x 10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey.'" 
Houston-based Enron, like other energy-trading firms, has denied wrongdoing in the California market. It dismissed Lockyer's comment as not warranting a response butquietlyprotested to the Davis administration. Other power companies have expressed outrage. 
"I was trying to convey a message to ... the out-of-state energy generators," Lockyer said. "I decided to make the point with the energy generators that they've got a serious fight on their hands." 
The attorney general, however, conceded he has "felt guilty about it ever since because I'm a prosecutor and I take pride in being careful about these sorts of accusations or claims." 
"But I know it won't be in print unless I find some sort of colorful way to ... pump up the rhetoric," he said. 
"We don't care if they're multi-millionaires. We don't care if they run big corporations. They're buccaneers. They're ripping us off. 
"Now, while we're still in the legal analysis of whether it's legal or illegal greed, it's clearly immoral. There's no debate about that." 
Lockyer said his investigators are scrutinizing tens of thousands of transactions and hundreds of thousands of documents to determine the strength of the state's case. 
"I think there is strong evidence that lays the foundation for a successful civil action, but the whole house hasn't been built," Lockyer said. 
A civil case could result in refunds that "disgorge the obscene profits," he said. 
The California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's electric transmission grid, estimates that power suppliers may have overcharged California by $6.8 billion since early last year. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has so far tentatively ordered California suppliers to make only tens of millions of dollars in refunds as part of that agency's ongoing probe. 
Lockyer said criminal charges will be filed if investigators find that company officials intentionally engaged in unfair business practices. 
The attorney general said he hopes to complete the work within the next eight weeks despite what he called stalling tactics such as those by three energy firms -- Reliant and Dynegy of Houston and Mirant of Atlanta. 
The three companies agreed Tuesday to surrender copies of internal documents that had been subpoenaed two months ago by Lockyer as part of the probe. 
"They've been throwing $500-an-hour lawyers at us in high volume to drag their feet and stall our investigation," Lockyer said. 
The attorney general's comments come amid a flurry of lawsuits and allegations by California officials against power suppliers, as well as ongoing probes. 
Besides the attorney and FERC, the Legislature, state Public Utilities Commission, Cal-ISO and the California Electricity Oversight Board are all conducting investigations. 

?1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers