Today's News....Thanks - Jean



Wall Street Journal [THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE!!!!]


Contra Costa Times, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS, K4988,
????803 words, ISO will give advanced warning of power blackouts, By Mike
????Taugher and Andrew LaMar

Copley News Service, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, State and regional, 1066 words,
????State sends $533.2 million to company, part of April bill, Ed Mendel,
????SACRAMENTO

Copley News Service, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, State and regional, 308 words,
????Business customers criticize proposed 29 percent SDG&E rate hike, Craig D.
????Rose, SAN DIEGO

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, Home Edition, Page 12, 426 words,
????Davis' Hiring of Consultants

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, Home Edition, Page 8, 621 words,
????The State; ; GOP Criticizes Davis' Choice of PR Aides; Capitol: 
Legislative
????leaders call the pair political operatives who are too partisan to 
represent
????the state during energy crisis., DAN MORAIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, 
SACRAMENTO

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, Home Edition, Page 8, 584 words,
????The State; ; Legislators Set to Sue Federal Energy Agency; Power: 
Lawmakers
????try a new idea: a lawsuit arguing that blackouts pose danger to people, 
law
????enforcement and even water supply., DAN MORAIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER,
????SACRAMENTO

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, Home Edition, Page 1, 892 words,
????State to Issue Warnings of Power Outages; Electricity: Cal-ISO says it 
will
????try to give residents and businesses 24-hour notice of probable 
blackouts.,
????MIGUEL BUSTILLO, NANCY VOGEL, TIMES STAFF WRITERS, SACRAMENTO

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, Home Edition, Page 1, 1406 words,
????CAMPAIGN 2001; Gas Prices, Not Politics, Preoccupy Valley Voters, SUE FOX,
????TIMES STAFF WRITER

Newsday (New York, NY), May 22, 2001 Tuesday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION,
????Pg. A18, 374 words, And Now, Today's Blackout Forecast, THE ASSOCIATED 
PRESS

The San Francisco Chronicle, MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY,, FINAL EDITION, NEWS;,
????Pg. A16;, 167 words, GILROY; ???Davis licenses 8th emergency power plant

The San Francisco Chronicle, MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY,, FINAL EDITION, NEWS;,
????Pg. A13, 669 words, Power plant 'ramping' to be probed; ???State senators
????also expected to file suit, charging federal regulators with failing to
????ensure fair rates, Christian Berthelsen

The San Francisco Chronicle, MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY,, FINAL EDITION, NEWS;,
????Pg. A1, 1527 words, Half-hour notice of blackouts planned; ???FAST ALERTS:
????Power grid operator may send voice, e-mail messages, Lynda Gledhill,
????Sacramento

USA TODAY, May 22, 2001, Tuesday,, FIRST EDITION, NEWS;, Pg. 5A, 492 words,
????Americans anxious about gas prices and energy woes, skeptical of Bush,
????Richard Benedetto

The Washington Times, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, Final Edition, PART A; NATION;
????INSIDE POLITICS; Pg. A6, 1242 words, Greg Pierce; THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2001 Tuesday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, News;
????Pg. 6; ZONE: N, 444 words, California to issue blackout forecasts, By
????Jennifer Coleman, Associated Press., SACRAMENTO

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle,
????5:39 AM Eastern Time, State and Regional, 506 words, One power plant is
????begun as another is finished, PHOENIX

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle,
????3:48 AM Eastern Time, State and Regional, 718 words, Developments in
????California's energy crisis, By The Associated Press

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle,
????3:05 AM Eastern Time, State and Regional, 576 words, California will
????forecast blackouts and warn the public, By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated
????Press Writer, SACRAMENTO, Calif.

AP Online, May 21, 2001; Monday, Domestic, non-Washington, general news
????item, 793 words, AP Top News at 7 p.m. EDT Monday, May 21, 2001, ADAM 
JOYCE

AP Online, May 21, 2001; Monday, International news, 678 words, Monday's
????Canada News Briefs, The Associated Press

The Associated Press, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle, Domestic News, 1473
????words, Infrastructure strains tearing at West, By PAULINE ARRILLAGA,
????Associated Press Writer, LAS VEGAS

The Associated Press, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle, Domestic News;
????Business News, 648 words, California will forecast blackouts and warn the
????public, By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer, SACRAMENTO, Calif.

The Associated Press, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle, Domestic News, 229
????words, Survey: Gov. Davis' ratings, public confidence take dive, By ALEXA
????HAUSSLER, Associated Press Writer, SACRAMENTO, Calif.

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle,
????State and Regional, 720 words, Grid officials, others studying planned
????blackouts, By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer, SACRAMENTO

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle,
????State and Regional, 901 words, 'Baseline' becoming key word for electric
????customers, By KAREN GAUDETTE, Associated Press Writer, SAN FRANCISCO

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle,
????State and Regional, 273 words, New poll suggests Californians haven't been
????this gloomy for years, SAN FRANCISCO

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle,
????State and Regional, 2497 words

CNBC/Dow Jones - Business Video, CNBC/DOW JONES BUSINESS VIDEO, May 21,
????2001, Monday, Transcript # 052100cb.y50, Business, 807 words, PG&E 
Chairman
????& CEO - Interview, Robert Glynn, Mark Haines, Joe Battipaglia

CNN, CNN INSIDE POLITICS 17:00, May 21, 2001; Monday, Transcript #
????01052100V15, News; Domestic, 7389 words, Bush Administration Endorses
????Mitchell Committee's Recommendations for Ending Mideast Violence, Mark
????Baldassare, Judy Woodruff, David Ensor, Major Garrett, William Schneider,
????Kelly Wallace, Jonathan Karl, Kate Snow, Rusty Dornin, Bruce Morton





Power Drain: The U.S. Energy Crisis

No Score in California Blame Game: Probes 
Find Little Proof Power Companies Colluded

By JOHN R. EMSHWILLER 
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


LOS ANGELES -- California may be struggling to keep its lights on, but one 
thing there is no shortage of is accusations over who is to blame for an 
electricity crisis that has sent power prices skyrocketing.

In recent days, top California officials have stepped up their rhetoric 
against a handful of merchant power companies, many of them Texas-based, that 
supply the state with much of its juice. Gov. Gray Davis says companies such 
as Reliant Energy Inc., of Houston, have engaged in "unconscionable 
price-gouging." Loretta Lynch, president of the California Public Utilities 
Commission and a Davis appointee, proclaims that a "cartel" of electricity 
producers has created artificial shortages. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is 
backing a bill that would make energy price-fixing a felony, and as a private 
citizen he is suing several major power producers in Los Angeles state court.

Investigations Under Way

About half a dozen investigations are being conducted by entities ranging 
from state legislative committees to the California attorney general's 
office. So far, these probes -- some of which have been under way for months 
-- haven't yet yielded either civil or criminal charges.

While the energy suppliers are generating "unconscionable profits," the 
question remains "whether they are illegal profits," says California Attorney 
General Bill Lockyer, who has offered rewards of as much as hundreds of 
millions of dollars for information about lawbreaking in the energy business.

Mr. Lockyer says he believes his office will eventually file civil charges 
against suppliers. He would very much like to add criminal counts. "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,' " adds Mr. Lockyer. Houston-based Enron is a major energy-trading 
company. Like other such firms, Enron has denied wrongdoing in the California 
market.

Mark Palmer, Enron's vice president for corporate communications, said Mr. 
Lockyer's comment about Mr. Lay " is so counterproductive that it doesn't 
merit a response."

Investigators and academics say there is abundant evidence that individual 
firms have been exercising "market power." This term is used to denote 
efforts to influence wholesale-electricity prices, such as by withholding 
supplies. The California Independent System Operator, or ISO, which manages 
the state's electric transmission grid, estimates that by exercising market 
power, suppliers may have added about $6.8 billion to the cost of electricity 
in the state since early last year.

A single firm exercising such power isn't necessarily illegal, says Severin 
Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute. If a 
company is a large supplier in the state and "you're not exercising market 
power, you are not doing your job" on behalf of shareholders, he says.

Mr. Borenstein and others say that there are steps that should be taken 
against suppliers. They note that under federal power law, the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission can order refunds for wholesale prices that are above 
"just and reasonable" levels. So far, FERC has tentatively ordered California 
suppliers to make tens of millions of dollars of such refunds, as part of 
that agency's ongoing inquiry into the California market. Critics of the 
suppliers and FERC say the refunds should be in the billions of dollars.

The power industry, not surprisingly, says there is nothing to accusations of 
price manipulation or collusion. Executives point to a botched 
state-utility-deregulation plan that relies heavily on volatile spot-market 
purchases. Suppliers note that over the past decade, California didn't build 
enough new power plants to keep up with demand growth. The allegations of 
manipulation are "a lot of sound and fury and they won't produce anything," 
says Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, an 
industry trade group.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Investigations Aplenty

In the year since California's energy deregulation plan began resulting in 
higher prices and even blackouts, a flurry of investigations has gotten under 
way. Here are the main ones:
Agency ????Investigation 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ????Whether generators are charging more 
than "just and reasonable" rates as demanded by the Federal Power Act; 
whether El Paso Corp. used its position as a major natural-gas supplier to 
the state to illegally drive up the price of fuel used to generate 
electricity. 
California Public Utilities Commission and the State Attorney General 
????Whether generators and power traders have acted illegally through 
collusion or other means to artificially inflate electricity prices. 
PUC and California Independent System Operator ????Whether generation plants 
were shut down for spurious reasons in order to create supply shortages and, 
thus, to raise electricity prices. 
California Electricity Oversight Board ????Whether patterns of bidding and 
pricing in California's electricity auction indicate collusive or otherwise 
illegal behavior. 

Sources: state and federal agencies
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Power generators also point to sharp increases in some of their costs, 
particularly natural gas, which is a major power-plant fuel. This rise in 
natural-gas prices also has set off a flurry of investigations over possible 
manipulation. One such case, involving El Paso Corp., Houston, is the subject 
of probes by federal and state officials. El Paso denies any wrongdoing.

While power-industry officials say they have been cooperating with the 
investigations, law-enforcement officials say they have hit some roadblocks. 
For instance, Mr. Lockyer's office has gone to San Francisco state court to 
enforce subpoenas against Reliant, Houston-based Dynegy Inc. and Southern Co. 
and Mirant Corp., both of Atlanta, after the companies resisted turning over 
certain business documents they deemed confidential.

Investigators have zeroed in on the increased frequency with which plants are 
going out of service for unscheduled outages. At times, several thousand 
fewer megawatts of capacity are available than a year ago. A thousand 
megawatts can power about one million homes.

'Forced Outage' Rate Rises

Generators say that this increased "forced outage" rate shows that tight 
supplies over the past year have required them to run plants, some of them 
more than 40 years old, for long periods without routine maintenance. This 
combination has produced more breakdowns. "Plants have been running flat 
out," says Tom Williams, a spokesman for Duke Energy Co., Charlotte, N.C., 
which says that its California power plants produced 50% more electricity in 
2000 than in 1999.

At the same time, during periods of lower demand, the number of unplanned 
outages often seems to rise enough to keep supplies tight, says Frank Wolak, 
a Stanford University professor and chairman of the ISO's market surveillance 
committee. "Clearly, something is going on here." However, he and others say 
that it is almost impossible to tell why a particular pipe failed or whether 
such a failure was a legitimate reason to reduce output.

Some of the most intriguing evidence to date about forced outages surfaced in 
a federal case. FERC officials said an investigation had raised questions 
about whether two major power companies had taken plants out of service in 
order to reap higher electricity prices. The charges against AES Corp., 
Arlington, Va., which owns the plants, and Williams Cos., Tulsa, Okla., which 
markets their output, asserted that those actions allowed the companies to 
reap an extra $10.8 million in revenue.

In one instance, according to case filings, a Williams employee "indicated" 
to AES officials that his firm wouldn't financially penalize AES for 
extending an outage at one plant. This conversation, which was voluntarily 
divulged by Williams, could be an indication of collusion. Williams and AES 
settled the case without admitting any wrongdoing by paying back $8 million 
to the ISO and by taking certain other measures. A Williams spokeswoman says 
the employee who talked to AES was "counseled not to enter into any 
conversations of that nature" in the future.

Another issue raised by the FERC case touched on maintenance procedures. 
According to the filings, AES stopped doing a certain procedure to keep its 
plant's cooling system from getting clogged. The clogging of the system was 
cited as a reason for one of the forced outages. Mark Woodruff, president of 
the AES unit that operates the plant in question, says the company 
substituted what it felt was an equally effective maintenance procedure.

If someone was looking to keep supplies tight and prices high, changes in 
maintenance procedures would be an easy way to ensure that plants, 
particularly old ones, have frequent forced outages, says a senior 
utility-industry executive. By restricting maintenance resources, he says, an 
operator can simply allow a plant "to take itself out of service."

Write to John R. Emshwiller at john.emshwiller@wsj.com


Copyright 2001 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
???????????????????????Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

??????????????????????????????Contra Costa Times

????????????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

KR-ACC-NO: ?K4988

LENGTH: 803 words

HEADLINE: ISO will give advanced warning of power blackouts

BYLINE: By Mike Taugher and Andrew LaMar

BODY:

??WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ The East has its hurricane watches and hurricane
warnings. Now California has power watches and power warnings to guide 
residents
through days of summer blackouts.

??Beginning next week, forecasters who look at variables like electricity 
loads
and transmission constraints instead of wind speeds and barometric pressure 
will
lay the odds of blackouts being imposed the next day. If those odds appear to 
be
50-50 or greater, they will issue a power warning.

??In addition, the California Independent System Operator will issue 30-minute
advisories to warn state residents that blackouts are probably imminent.

??The new warnings are in response to complaints that blackouts have taken
people by surprise.

??"What we're hearing from the public is they wanted a little more heads-up
when it comes to blackouts," said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.

??Meanwhile, Gov. Gray Davis was in Chicago Monday to hear firsthand from city
officials about how an advance notification program can work. State lawmakers
are exploring ways to provide Californians with greater notice of potential
blackouts, including scheduling them in advance.

??In Chicago, where aging lines and structural limitations have produced a
string of power outages over the past two summers, residents often receive 30
minutes warning a blackout is coming, and grid operators work with city 
agencies
and police to ensure criminals don't take advantage of the opportunity.

??California's new warning system has considerable limits.

??The ISO, after all, does not determine where blackouts occur. They simply
tell the three utilities in the system _ Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern
California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric _ when to shut off power and 
how
much to turn off.

??It is up to the utilities to determine where the blackouts occur.

??PG&E's website posts which of 14 outage blocks is next to be hit, so anyone
who knows their block number could use information from PG&E and the ISO
websites to prepare for a blackout.

??PG&E spokesman John Nelson said the Northern California utility can make 
tens
of thousands of phone calls to businesses and customers who need power for
life-support systems and other medical necessities "in a very short period of
time."

??"We think that anything that increases the amount of time that we're given 
by
the ISO . . . is a good thing," Nelson said, adding that at the beginning of
this year the utility was assuming that it would get about 30 minutes notice
before blackouts were ordered.

??In another development on Monday, state Controller Kathleen Connell issued
another warning about the financial toll California's energy crisis is taking 
on
the state treasury. Connell said the state could run out of cash by Sept. 1 
if $
13.4 billion in revenue bonds aren't sold.

??The state plans to sell the bonds in late August to cover the cost of buying
electricity needed by financially troubled Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and
Southern California Edison to serve their customers.

??Even if the bonds go through without a hitch, Connell said the state will
have to seek more bonds or borrow between $3 billion and $5 billion beginning
February 2002 to continue buying power. She said electricity purchases are
costing the state more than the governor anticipated and far less has been
bought through long-term contracts than Davis planned.

??But the governor's top energy aides challenged Connell's analysis and said
they believe long-term contracts now being put in place combined with
conservation efforts will bring spending down. Joe Fichera, a Davis financial
adviser, said the state spent $1.8 billion to buy power in April, only 1.4
percent higher than the $1.78 billion estimated.

??"I think reasonable people can differ in terms of the projections," Fichera
said. "I don't know what's underlying all of her assumptions and such. We do
have more complete information . . . ."

??To highlight the exorbitant costs of power, Connell pointed to an enlarged
picture of a $533 million check the state sent the Mirant Corp. for April 
power
purchases.

??Mirant defended its sales. Included in its April sales were $126 million
worth of electricity that the company bought from companies unwilling to sell 
to
California but which Mirant purchased and then sold to California at a 12
percent markup, according to figures released by the company.

??"If the intent was to somehow attack Mirant for its role in the California 
market in April, then I'd have to say that the state has apparently decided to
bite a helping hand," said Randy Harrison, CEO of Mirant's western U.S.
operations.

??KRT CALIFORNIA is a premium service of Knight Ridder/Tribune

??(c) 2001, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

??Visit the Contra Costa Times on the Web at http://www.cctimes.com/
 
JOURNAL-CODE: CC

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????5 of 85 DOCUMENTS

??????????????????????Copyright 2001 Copley News Service

?????????????????????????????Copley News Service

????????????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday

SECTION: State and regional

LENGTH: 1066 words

HEADLINE: State sends $533.2 million to company, part of April bill

BYLINE: Ed Mendel

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??One of the biggest single checks ever issued by the state of California,
$533.2 million, went to an Atlanta-based firm Friday for power purchased for
California utility customers during a single month, April.

??Mirant, formerly Southern Energy, says more than half of the power came from
three plants in the San Francisco Bay Area that it purchased from Pacific Gas
and Electric for $801 million under a failed deregulation plan.

??State Treasurer Kathleen Connell, who displayed a blown-up copy of the check
at a news conference yesterday, said she thinks the state has failed to obtain
enough cheap long-term power contracts and will have to borrow more than the
$13.4 billion planned.

??Connell, an elected official who issues state checks, said the power bills
she had paid by last Thursday, totaling $5.1 billion, provide no basis for
assuming that the price of electricity ''is dropping and that it will continue
to drop through the summer.''

??But a consultant for Gov. Gray Davis said the state, which has more 
long-term
contracts than Connell has seen, is on track to control power costs with the 
aid
of conservation and that it plans to meet its goals without additional
borrowing.

??''I think the public should have confidence that this is not a rosy
scenario,'' said Joseph Fichera of Saber Partners, a Davis consultant. ''It's
the expected scenario.''

??The state plans to issue a bond of up to $13.4 billion in late August that
will repay the general-fund taxpayer money used for power purchases, about $7
billion so far. The bond will be paid off over 15 years by utility customers.

??Davis has declined to reveal details of state spending for power, arguing
that the information would be used by power suppliers to submit higher bids. A
group of newspapers and Republican legislators have filed lawsuits to force
disclosure.

??Connell said she has received 25 contracts from 17 power suppliers. She
declined to release details of the contracts, saying they are complicated and
have varying prices.

??Connell said the check for $533,181,235 issued to Mirant Friday is one of 
the
largest she has written since taking office in 1995.

??''This purchase was made entirely at spot-market prices,'' Connell said,
''even though the Department of Water Resources (the state agency that 
purchases
power) has an executed long-term contract with this company.''

??Mirant said in a statement that, at the request of the state, its marketing
arm gave the state a ''helping hand'' by buying power from suppliers not 
willing
to sell to the state and then reselling the power to the state.

??''We've done the state a tremendous service in purchasing power on its
behalf,'' said Randy Harrison, Mirant's Western chief executive officer, ''and
it's wrong for the transactions to be misinterpreted and skewed in a negative
light.''

??Mirant said its subsidiaries generated 1.377 million megawatt-hours in 
April,
while its marketing arm purchased enough additional electricity to boost the
total sold to the state during the month to 2.077 million megawatt-hours.

??The firm said the power was sold for an average of $256.87 per 
megawatt-hour.
That's below the $346 average that the state expects to pay on the expensive
spot market during the second quarter of this year, from April through June.

??But it's well above the average price of $69 per megawatt-hour said to have
been obtained in the first round of long-term contracts negotiated by the 
state.

??Mirant purchased three power plants from PG&E capable of producing 3,000
megawatts during a controversial part of deregulation. The state Public
Utilities Commission ordered utilities to sell off at least half of their
fossil-fuel power plants without requiring the purchasers to provide low-cost
power to California.

??The utilities sold nearly two dozen major power plants capable of producing
more than 20,000 megawatts. The largest group of plants, 4,700 megawatts, went
to AES Corp. of Virginia. Three Texas firms purchased plants producing 7,000
megawatts.

??The power supply situation in California remained sound enough yesterday to
ward off blackouts, although temperatures are on the rise throughout the 
state.
More heat means more air conditioning, and a greater strain on the system.

??But starting next month, the state's electricity grid managers plan to
provide businesses and consumers with better forecasts of potential rolling
blackouts.

??The California Independent System Operator will post on its Web site ''power
warnings'' when there is at least a 50 percent chance that rolling blackouts
might be required during the next 24 hours. The ISO will issue a ''power 
watch''
when less-critical shortages are anticipated in advance of high demand days.

??The agency also plans to give a 30-minute warning before it orders utilities
to cut power to customers, posting information about probable interruptions on
its Web site. Its Web site address is www.caiso.com.

??''There have been a number of requests from businesses and consumers alike
that would like more advance notice and to be able to plan better. That's what
we are trying to do,'' ISO spokeswoman Lorie O'Donley said.

??O'Donley said many details about how notifications will occur still have to
be worked out, including whether e-mails or pagers might be used.

??In other developments in the electricity crisis:

???About 1.5 million compact fluorescent light bulbs will be distributed to
375,000 households as part of the ''Power Walk'' program that began during the
weekend. Members of the California Conservation Corps are going door-to-door 
in
parts of some cities to distribute the bulbs as part of a $20 million
conservation program.

???Republican legislative leaders sent Davis a letter criticizing the governor
for using taxpayer funds to hire two aides to former Vice President Al Gore as
communication consultants for $30,000 a month. The Republicans said Mark 
Fabiani
and Chris Lehane operate ''a partisan, cut-throat political communications
firm.''

???The state auditor general said in a report on energy deregulation that the
state is not meeting some of its goals for conservation and for building new
power plants. The auditor also said the PUC does not have a process for 
quickly
approving new transmission lines. The state has been importing about 20 
percent
of its power.

Staff writer Karen Kucher contributed to this report.



LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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??????????????????????Copyright 2001 Copley News Service

?????????????????????????????Copley News Service

????????????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday

SECTION: State and regional

LENGTH: 308 words

HEADLINE: Business customers criticize proposed 29 percent SDG&E rate hike

BYLINE: Craig D. Rose

DATELINE: SAN DIEGO

BODY:

??San Dieg Gas and Electric's commercial customers are attacking the prospect
of paying an average of 29 percent more to cover the state's soaring cost of
buying electricity. 

??At a California Public Utilities Commission hearing in San Diego yesterday,
some business customers also noted the irony that only in February did they 
win
the same rate freeze as residential customers.

??''We need rates we can depend on,'' said John Roberts, who owns an 
irrigation
products business in San Marcos.

??SDG&E customers were the first to bear the brunt of deregulation, and the
utility's residential ratepayers were the first to win a reprieve when the 
state
passed a 6.5-cent per kilowatt hour cap.

??The SDG&E cap is expected to end for all customers in the coming weeks as 
the
commission moves to increase SDG&E's rates to levels now paid by customers of
PG&E and Edison, which are about 3 cents per kilowatt hour higher.

??Yesterday's hearing, however, was for commercial rates.

??Roberts said his San Marcos-based irrigation products company has withstood 
a
tripling of power costs over the past year, while having to cut the cost of 
its
products because of competition, he said.

??Roberts added that socking businesses with high costs in order to spare
residential electricity customers from expected rate hikes could be
counterproductive.

??''If businesses leave the state, they'll be without jobs, and a $30 savings
on their power bills won't mean much,'' Roberts said.

??The hearing at the County Administration Building was attended by about 30
people. An additional hearing is scheduled at 7 p.m. today in the Community
Rooms at the Oceanside Civic Center, 330 N. Coast Highway.

??Larger crowds are expected for hearings on residential rate increases. Dates
for those hearings have not been set.


???WAGNER-CNS-SD-05-21-01 2238PST



LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????9 of 85 DOCUMENTS

??????????????????????Copyright 2001 / Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????????????Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday ?Home Edition

SECTION: California; Part 2; Page 12; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 426 words

HEADLINE: Davis' Hiring of Consultants

BODY:

??Re "Davis Sharpens Attack on Bush Energy Plan," May 19: It is very clear 
that
Gov. Gray Davis has one major political goal: running for president of the
United States. His recent hiring of two--not one--political aides, to be paid
for by the taxpayers at a monthly rate more than double the salary of the
governor, means that Davis has decided that the California taxpayer will pay
through the nose to support this goal.

??These consultants are not experts in the energy area, which is the biggest
problem facing California today, but are experienced spin doctors brought in 
to
try to improve the diving image of Davis. I have no problem with the governor
bringing in these men at his own expense, but for the taxpayer to foot the 
bill
is bordering on criminal.

??Jack Bendar

???o7 Pacific Palisades

???f7 *

??Is anyone as outraged as I am over Davis hiring, at California taxpayers'
expense, damage-control experts to cover his lack of energy policy leadership?
The fee of $30,000 per month is outrageous and is an insult to citizens. If
Davis feels that he needs consultants to save his image, they should be paid
from his campaign treasure chest and not by California taxpayers.

??David Anderson

???o7 Mission Viejo

???f7 *

??Davis is obeying Rule No.1 for all politicians: When things are going badly,
first find a scapegoat. Davis has the power generating companies. But, as Pogo
said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." If Davis and his cronies in the
Legislature had the courage to allow retail electricity prices to rise,
businesses and individuals would have a financial incentive to conserve.

??If Davis and his cronies had had the wisdom to foresee the huge capacity
shortfall looming, perhaps California wouldn't have wasted the last decade
without bringing even one new power plant online. And now, the best he can 
come
up with is to beg Washington for help?

??Mark Wallace

???o7 Los Angeles

???f7 *

??Re "California Left Twisting in the Political Wind," Opinion, May 20: As a
native Californian who escaped in 1994, I would recommend coming to South
Dakota, where there's plenty of inexpensive power, great schools, fresh air,
open spaces, a low cost of living and normal people, but most of you are just
too damned stupid and self-centered to figure out that neither the state
government nor federal government will tell you to wear a heavy coat in the
winter and stay inside during a blizzard. You'd have to figure that out for
yourselves. Too bad. No; actually, it's good.

??Ken Russell

???o7 Arlington, S.D.

???f7

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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??????????????????????????????Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday ?Home Edition

SECTION: California; Part 2; Page 8; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 621 words

HEADLINE: The State;
;
GOP Criticizes Davis' Choice of PR Aides;
Capitol: Legislative leaders call the pair political operatives who are too
partisan to represent the state during energy crisis.

BYLINE: DAN MORAIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??Republican legislative leaders Monday blasted Gov. Gray Davis' decision to
spend $30,000 a month in taxpayer money to retain communications consultants
known for their highly partisan work.

??Labeling consultants Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane as "cut-throat," Senate
GOP leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga and Assembly Republican leader Dave
Cox of Fair Oaks said in a letter to Davis that the hiring "undermines the
assertions you have made both publicly and privately throughout this crisis."

??Davis announced Friday that he retained the duo and that the state will pay
them a combined $30,000 a month for at least the next six months.

??"We're not going to support the hiring of political hacks on government
payroll," Brulte said in an interview. "Lehane and Fabiani are very talented.
The issue is which payroll is appropriate. . . . These are political 
opposition
research attack dogs. If the governor wants them, he ought to pay for them 
with
his $30-million political war chest."

??Some consumer advocates also criticized the move, citing the consultants'
work on behalf of Southern California Edison. In their private consulting
business, Fabiani and Lehane are working to win over public and political
support for Davis' $3.5-billion plan to rescue Edison from its financial
difficulties. Legislation embodying aspects of the deal is pending in
Sacramento.

??On Monday, Brulte and Cox also complained about the consultants' dual role.

??"California taxpayers should not be asked to finance political consultants 
or
individuals who have a vested business interest with the state," the letter
said.

??Fabiani and Lehane had worked in the Clinton administration, and in Vice
President Al Gore's presidential campaign, where they gained a reputation as
attack-oriented operatives. Lehane on Monday defended the governor's decision 
to
use tax money to pay their fees, saying government often hires outside experts
and that he and Fabiani will "serve as communications advisors to help the
governor fight against these generators."

??"The Republicans," Lehane added, "ought to be spending time writing letters
to George W. Bush to get him to stop the Texas generators from gouging
California. . . . That is the real issue here."

??Davis, meanwhile, returned to California on Monday after a weekend of
fund-raisers. He was in Texas on Saturday for a Dallas event that had been
scheduled for April 11. It was postponed when Pacific Gas & Electric filed for
bankruptcy protection.

??"There is a very large fund-raising base for Democrats in Texas," Davis'
campaign strategist, Garry South, said of the state that is home to some of 
the
generators that Davis has criticized.

??Davis traveled to Chicago for another fund-raiser Sunday, then met Monday
with city officials to discuss how Chicago deals with electrical blackouts.

??After blackouts crippled downtown Chicago in the summer of 1999, Mayor
Richard M. Daley demanded that the city's electricity provider, Commonwealth
Edison, give advance notice of power cuts. Customers now sometimes receive
warnings two or three days in advance.

??Davis emerged from the meeting saying "the utilities have got to tell us in
advance when they're going to have a planned blackout."

??It was not, however, readily apparent how Chicago's solutions would 
translate
to California, because its electrical problems are vastly different. Rather 
than
suffering a shortage of electricity throughout the grid like California, 
Chicago
has the more microcosmic ills of an aging system--an obsolete transformer 
going
down, for example, leaving several city blocks in the dark until workers can 
fix
it.

??*

??Times staff writer Eric Slater contributed to this story.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Protester Barbara King shakes a light bulb outside Sacramento
office of a lobbyist for energy producer Enron near the Capitol. PHOTOGRAPHER:
ROBERT DURELL / Los Angeles Times

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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??????????????????????????????Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday ?Home Edition

SECTION: California; Part 2; Page 8; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 584 words

HEADLINE: The State;
;
Legislators Set to Sue Federal Energy Agency;
Power: Lawmakers try a new idea: a lawsuit arguing that blackouts pose danger 
to
people, law enforcement and even water supply.

BYLINE: DAN MORAIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??Legislative Democrats today will sue federal energy regulators, charging 
that
their inaction threatens elderly people in nursing homes, children in day care
centers, law enforcement and its ability to fight crime, and the state's
drinking water supplies.

??Rather than focus on record wholesale energy costs, the lawsuit takes a new
tack, homing in on the threat to health and safety posed by California's 
energy
crisis and the blackouts likely this summer.

??A draft of the suit seeks to force the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
to set "just and reasonable" wholesale power rates as a way of ending the 
crisis
before blackouts occur. The action is being filed by veteran trial attorney 
Joe
Cotchett on behalf of Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco),
Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), and the city of Oakland.

??"A crisis of unprecedented dimensions is already taking shape in 
California,"
the draft says. "The public health, safety and welfare of the state's 34 
million
residents is in jeopardy due to the tragic consequences of rolling blackouts 
and
punitive prices."

??Suit Says Blackouts Pose Threats

??Until now, most California officials, including Gov. Gray Davis, have been
urging that the regulatory commission cap wholesale power prices as a way of
limiting costs to the state, which has spent more than $6 billion buying
electricity since January.

??In the lawsuit, Cotchett will be arguing that while higher bills will 
stretch
the budgets of people on fixed incomes, frail elderly people "are left to 
wonder
if their oxygen tanks, drip IVs, dialysis machines and electricity-powered
therapeutic beds will respond when they are needed."

??"Rolling blackouts represent more than just an annoyance for the men, women
and children with disabilities," the suit says. "They represent an imminent
threat to life, health and independence."

??Cotchett said the suit will be filed in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of 
Appeals
in San Francisco, bypassing the federal trial court. Cotchett said the circuit
court has direct jurisdiction over FERC.

??Joining Cotchett will be Clark Kelso, a professor at McGeorge Law School in
Sacramento who briefly was insurance commissioner last year after Chuck
Quackenbush resigned. Kelso said he initially was skeptical that lawmakers had
legal standing to sue. But after Cotchett spoke with him, Kelso said he became
convinced the suit had merit.

??"Let's face it," said Kelso, a Republican, "this is the single most 
important
issue that the state faces for the next six months."

??Watching the Water Supply

??The suit cites warnings from governmental agencies about the implications of
blackouts, including one the state Department of Health Services issued 
earlier
this month to public water agencies statewide. The warning contains a sample
notice that local water authorities should give to consumers.

??"If the water looks cloudy or dirty," the warning says, "you should not 
drink
it." The warning suggests that if people are concerned about water quality, 
they
can boil it or add "eight drops of household bleach to one gallon of water, 
and
let it sit for 30 minutes."

??Most water agencies have back-up generators. But the suit says that "if an
agency's water treatment facilities are hit by a power outage, a two-hour
blackout can result in two-day interruptions in providing safe drinking water
because of time needed to bring equipment back online and flush potentially
contaminated water from the system."

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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??????????????????????????????Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday ?Home Edition

SECTION: California; Part 2; Page 1; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 892 words

HEADLINE: State to Issue Warnings of Power Outages;
Electricity: Cal-ISO says it will try to give residents and businesses 24-hour
notice of probable blackouts.

BYLINE: MIGUEL BUSTILLO, NANCY VOGEL, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??Californians will hear an expanded forecast on their morning commutes this
summer, courtesy of the energy crisis: "The 405 Freeway is jammed, there's a
slim chance of showers, and oh, by the way, there's a 50% likelihood of
blackouts."

??By the end of this month, the California Independent System Operator, the
agency that manages the state's power grid, expects to issue 24-hour forecasts
generally detailing when and where blackouts can be expected.

??It is also piecing together a high-tech system to give businesses, 
government
officials and the public at least a half-hour notice of a probable blackout in
their area.

??Just how those notices will be issued remains somewhat up in the air, but
Cal-ISO is talking with private companies capable of notifying more than 
10,000
customers a minute via fax and phone, and millions a minute via wireless
communications such as pagers.

??Cal-ISO assembled the plan after complaints from businesses, particularly
those in the Silicon Valley, that last-minute blackouts were costing 
California
millions. The plan also responds to growing political pressure for the public 
to
be kept informed of the barrage of outages that is expected to darken the 
state
this summer because of insufficient supplies of electricity. 

??If Californians' electricity use pattern is similar to last year's, Cal-ISO
has projected, the state could suffer 34 days of blackouts, making increased
notification crucial.

??With a shortage of hydroelectric power imports from the drought-stricken
Pacific Northwest, and no new power plants coming online until July, the 
agency
calculates that there will be a supply-demand gap in June of 3,700
megawatts--enough power to supply 2.8 million homes. A national utility 
industry
group painted a more dire scenario last week when it predicted that California
will experience up to 260 hours of blackouts this summer.

??"The weather report and traffic report are good analogies; people know they
are not 100% accurate, but if [a blackout] really means a lot to them, they 
will
check in," said Mike Florio of the Utility Reform Network, who serves on the
Cal-ISO board.

??Details remain sketchy, and the programs may be altered when the board meets
Thursday. But a Web page called "Today's Outlook" on the agency's Internet 
site,
http://www.caiso.com, will be created to illustrate, hour by hour, how much
electricity is available during a 24-hour period and whether there is a
predicted surplus or shortfall.

??Media outreach will be expanded to provide news bulletins on electricity
conditions a day in advance. They will not only include demand projections and
the effects of weather, but they also will define the level of emergency that 
is
expected.

??A "power watch" will be sounded during stage 1 and stage 2 shortages, and a
more serious "power warning" if there is a 50-50 chance of a stage 3, which
often results in blackouts. (Stage 1 emergencies occur when power reserves 
drop
below 7%, stage 2 5% and stage 3 1.5%.)

??Most important, Cal-ISO is pledging to provide 30-minute notice of probable
blackouts to people in the areas served by Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern
California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, among others. In addition to
giving the warnings on the Internet and through the mass media, Cal-ISO will
sound alarms to select e-mail addresses and pager numbers on "blast lists," or
massive computer databases that it will assemble.

??"The technology is there. This is a war California is in, and we should be
deploying high-tech solutions," said Carl Guardino of the Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group, the Cal-ISO board member who had been pushing hardest for
better notification. "Every time California goes black, the economy sees red."

??Guardino said that businesses and public agencies are now receiving just 
two-
to six-minute warnings before blackouts, not nearly enough to react.

??"A two-minute warning may be sufficient in a football game, but it is
insufficient to protect California businesses and the public," he said.

??Though businesses and government agencies are expected to make the most of
the warnings, Florio said residents also will benefit.

??"It will be more of a challenge to get the information to individual
homeowners, but if someone works at home, and sets it up to get an e-mail
notice, they can take advantage," he said.

??In other energy news Monday, the woman in charge of paying California's 
power
bills warned that a $13.4-billion bond issue to cover electricity purchases 
will
be insufficient and that the state will have to borrow $4 billion more before 
it
runs out of cash in February.

??Calling a news conference in the capital, state Controller Kathleen Connell
questioned the key assumptions underpinning Gov. Gray Davis' financial plan 
for
overcoming the energy crisis. The plan assumes the $13.4 billion in bond sales
will repay state coffers for electricity purchases and cover future power buys
for the next two years.

??Connell's opinion is notable because, as the state's chief check writer, the
independently elected Democrat is privy to information about the prices the
state is paying for electricity bought on the spot market and through 
long-term
contracts--data that Davis has largely kept secret.

??Davis' advisors and Department of Finance officials dispute Connell's
warnings.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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??????????????????????????????Los Angeles Times

??????????????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday ?Home Edition

SECTION: California; Part 2; Page 1; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 1406 words

SERIES: First of four articles

HEADLINE: CAMPAIGN 2001;
Gas Prices, Not Politics, Preoccupy Valley Voters

BYLINE: SUE FOX, TIMES STAFF WRITER

BODY:

??On the sidelines of a boisterous cricket game in Woodley Avenue Park, where
men knock back beer from red plastic cups, nobody is talking about compressed
work schedules for police officers.

??The scheduling debate--a recent flash point in the Los Angeles mayoral
race--isn't much of a conversation item among joggers circling Balboa Lake,
either.

??What matters to people here tends to be far more personal, far more 
connected
to the workaday struggles of weary drivers slogging their way through 
rush-hour
traffic than the political battles engulfing City Hall.

??Gasoline prices. Long commutes. Mediocre schools. Housing costs. At the
Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, the Valley's answer to Central Park, such
ordinary concerns about money, time and resources stretched too thin for 
comfort
tumbled out again and again during interviews with some two dozen people
visiting this green oasis.

??Sprawling northwest from the tangled junction of the San Diego and Ventura
freeways, the recreation area is a pastoral patchwork of three golf courses
bracketed by Woodley Avenue Park to the east and Lake Balboa to the west. It
hardly looks like a battleground, but the 2,000-acre park straddles something 
of
a political fault line in the mayoral contest.

??Both candidates in the June 5 runoff, former state legislator Antonio
Villaraigosa and City Atty. James K. Hahn, have staked out the Valley as prime
campaign turf, packed with thousands of up-for-grabs voters whose affections
might well tip the race.

??And the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area is wedged between an electoral no 
man's
land--a southern ribbon of the Valley where about 60% of voters shunned both 
men
in the election's first round--and a central Valley region where Villaraigosa
took first place in April, beating Hahn by roughly a 2-to-1 margin.

??Between them, the candidates are expected to spend more than $10 million by
election day to get their messages out. But it's not clear whether these
impassioned appeals are reaching their intended targets.

??Less than a month before the election, many people here are preoccupied with
concerns that have little to do with City Hall. And when they do voice 
interest
in local matters, some seem unable to connect these issues to a candidate.

??For instance, several Valley voters interviewed in the park in early May 
said
that knotted traffic on the San Diego Freeway was a major problem. But no one
mentioned a plan Villaraigosa unveiled in March to buy hundreds of new buses 
and
slash fares in a sweeping bid to cut vehicle traffic, or a proposal from Hahn 
to
add more carpool lanes on freeways.

??Which raises a fundamental challenge for would-be mayors: Sometimes, there's
just too much going on in everyday life to tune in to city politics. "I know I
ought to," many people confess sheepishly, "but I just haven't gotten around 
to
it yet."

??Take Randye Sandel, 58, a blond and bespectacled oil painter from Valley
Village. Sandel said she plans to vote for Hahn, "a known quantity" in City
Hall, but a moment later admits that she might change her mind. The thing is,
Sandel adds, she's been really busy setting up an art exhibition at a Santa
Monica gallery and has yet to research her mayoral options. "I've been totally
immersed in my own life," she said.

??Same goes for Harold Seay, a muscular golfer heading back to his car after
playing 18 holes. The 44-year-old music teacher from Encino said he's had his
hands full for weeks rehearsing graduation recitals for a Brentwood private
school. "The news is the last thing I'm paying attention to," he said.

??But both voters can easily rattle off their most pressing concerns. Sandel,
who used to teach art at Valley College, said she is particularly worried 
about
education.

??"The last few semesters I taught, I was horrified by the academic
preparedness of the students. They were practically illiterate," she said. 
"They
couldn't take notes from my lecture because they didn't understand the
vocabulary. That bothers me a lot. Who's going to inherit this country?"

??Seay, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Miami, said he is troubled by
the air pollution and racial tension he has encountered here. Seay is African
American and his wife is Italian, he said, and their 9-year-old daughter is
"stuck half-and-half," caught in what Seay regards as a troubling black-white
divide. "That black-white thing really turns me off," he said. "I care about
people getting along."

??As the mayoral race hurtles into its final weeks, some of Hahn and
Villaraigosa's most spirited skirmishes have erupted over crime and law
enforcement issues. Each man is trying to burnish his own crime-fighting
credentials while accusing his rival of neglecting public safety.

??The candidates have squabbled especially fiercely over compressed work
schedules for police officers--the notion of squashing the police workweek 
into
three 12-hour days, or possibly four 10-hour days. The Police Protective 
League
endorsed Hahn, who supports the so-called 3-12 schedule favored by the union.
Villaraigosa, whom Hahn has often characterized as soft on crime, seized upon
the scheduling issue to retaliate, arguing that the three-day week would
jeopardize public safety.

??But interviews with people visiting the Valley's biggest park revealed that
crime--which has declined significantly since Mayor Richard Riordan took 
office
eight years ago--was not the main issue weighing on these voters' minds. That
distinction belongs to something that has walloped wallets far and wide across
this car-addled city: the soaring price of gasoline.

??As he cooled down after a six-mile run near Balboa Lake, Ray Verdugo summed
up the problem facing many gas-guzzlers as prices approached $2 a gallon: "I
made a big mistake and bought a big SUV," lamented the retired Rocketdyne
engineer from Winnetka. "I'm on a fixed income, and [gasoline prices] keep 
going
up all the time."

??Big-city mayors, to be sure, wield minimal influence over gasoline pumps. 
Gas
prices are swayed by market forces, including the international cost of crude
oil, rising demand and limited refinery capacity. Nonetheless, about a third 
of
voters interviewed as they ambled around the Sepulveda Basin named gas prices 
as
a top concern. Half as many said they were worried about crime.

??Some voters said they were troubled by California's electricity woes,
although Los Angeles residents have been spared shortages and blackouts 
because
the city's municipal utility avoided deregulation. 

??"I think building more power plants would help," said Julie Erickson, 27, a
figure-skating instructor from Reseda.

??And then there are the things that people aren't talking about. Nobody (at
least nobody in an admittedly unscientific sample of voters culled over two 
days
in the Sepulveda Basin) mentioned the Rampart police scandal or the recruiting
problems crippling the Los Angeles Police Department.

??No one uttered so much as a peep about neighborhood councils, that
much-ballyhooed innovation of the new city charter. Even the Valley secession
movement--which Villaraigosa has pointed to as "the biggest challenge facing 
Los
Angeles"--hardly earned an honorable mention from this cross-section of
Valleyites. Only one voter referred to secession at all, saying that she 
favored
it.

??Instead, many people voiced personal gripes, the kind of woes unlikely to
vault to the center of the mayoral radar screen--but issues that nonetheless
embody the high quality of life both candidates envision for Los Angeles.

??One man, a sunburned golfer who lives in Van Nuys, said he's dismayed that
the city hasn't finished building a new golf clubhouse and restaurant at the
Woodley Lakes Golf Course. Another frequent park visitor, a retired 
housekeeper
from Sherman Oaks, complained about the windblown litter she sees as she walks
her dog around Balboa Lake.

??But some problems vexing these voters seem frankly beyond the grasp of even
the most poll-tested candidate.

??Sandel, the oil painter, got downright metaphysical after a good 15 minutes
spent mulling the troubles facing Los Angeles, and indeed the world. 
Technology,
she concluded, was advancing so rapidly that it was crowding out humanity's
intuitive, spiritual side.

??"I think there's an extraordinary sense of collective despair and
psychological uncertainty smoldering just below the surface," she said. "I 
don't
know what City Hall can do about that."

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Ray Verdugo, a retired Rocketdyne engineer, says, "I'm on a
fixed income, and [gas prices] keep going up all the time." PHOTOGRAPHER: 
BORIS
YARO / Los Angeles Times GRAPHIC-MAP: (no caption), Los Angeles Times

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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?????????????????????????Copyright 2001 Newsday, Inc.

????????????????????????????Newsday (New York, NY)

???????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A18

LENGTH: 374 words

HEADLINE: And Now, Today's Blackout Forecast

BYLINE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BODY:

??Sacramento, Calif.-Californians will soon be waking up to the weather, the
traffic-and a blackout forecast.

??The operator of the state's electricity grid said yesterday it will start
issuing forecasts 24 hours ahead of expected rolling blackouts. The agency 
also
promised to give 30 minutes' warning before it orders utility companies to 
pull
the plug on homes and businesses, a move that could prevent traffic accidents,
stuck elevators and costly shutdowns at factories.

??Up to now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning,
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. The utility companies
also have resisted giving warnings, saying they did not want to tip off 
burglars
and other criminals.

??"People are asking for additional notice, so we're doing our best to make
that a reality," said Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the California 
Independent System Operator.

??The state's power system, crippled by a botched effort at deregulation, has
been unable to produce or buy enough electricity to power air conditioners on
hot days. The rolling blackouts move from neighborhood to neighborhood in a
sequence that is determined by the utility companies and is difficult for the
public to predict. The outages last 60 to 90 minutes and then skip to another
neighborhood.

??Because of the lack of notice, the six days of rolling blackouts so far this
year have led to pileups at intersections suddenly left without stoplights,
people trapped in elevators, and losses caused by stopped production lines.
People with home medical equipment fret that they will be cut off without
warning.

??The new plan borrows from the language of weather forecasters: Beginning May
30 the ISO will issue a "power watch" or "power warning" that will give notice
the grid could be headed toward blackouts. It will issue a 30-minute warning 
to
the media and others before any blackouts begin but will not say what
neighborhoods will be hit.

??"Any time is better than none," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the
California Retailers Association. "Obviously, we'd like more, but we're
realistic about what they can do."

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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?????????????????Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.

?????????????????????????The San Francisco Chronicle

?????????????????????MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A16; BAY AREA REPORT

LENGTH: 167 words

HEADLINE: GILROY;

Davis licenses 8th emergency power plant

BODY:
Gov. Gray Davis announced yesterday the licensing of the eighth power plant 
-- a
135-megawatt site designed to meet summer demand -- under a 21-day emergency
review he ordered three months ago.

???Calpine Corp. plans to build the plant -- consisting of three 45-megawatt
gas-fired turbines -- next to the firm's existing cogeneration power plant in
Gilroy. ?The plant should be producing electricity no later than Sept. 30.

???Calpine has guaranteed the annual sale of 2,000 hours of generation from 
the
"peaker" project under contract to the California Department of Water 
Resources.

???To swiftly beef up the state's power production during the peak summer
demand, Davis signed the February order directing the California Energy
Commission to expedite review of the peaker plants -- small, temporary,
simple-cycle generators that can be quickly put into operation. The eight 
plants
licensed so far will add a total of 636 megawatts to the grid this
summer.Compiled from Chronicle staff reports

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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?????????????????Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.

?????????????????????????The San Francisco Chronicle

?????????????????????MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A13

LENGTH: 669 words

HEADLINE: Power plant 'ramping' to be probed;

State senators also expected to file suit, charging federal regulators with
failing to ensure fair rates

SOURCE: Chronicle Staff Writer

BYLINE: Christian Berthelsen

BODY:
State legislators said yesterday that they will investigate charges power
companies manipulated electricity prices by repeatedly ramping the output of
their plants up and down and creating artificial shortages.

???Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana (Orange County), who heads a special committee
reviewing energy prices, called the "ramping" allegations, first disclosed in
The Chronicle on Sunday, "outrageous acts of manipulation."

???Dunn said that even if the practices did not violate current law,
legislation could be drafted to make such acts illegal in the future.

???"We're looking at it, yes, from the point of view of civil or criminal
statutes that may exist but also whether legislation should be introduced to
render it a violation for future such acts."

???Dunn's committee already has been investigating charges that power
generators "gamed" the wholesale energy market to boost their profits.

???The Chronicle reported Sunday that power companies used a complex tactic to
alter the output of their plants, sometimes several times within an hour.

???Sources who work in the plants said the ploy enabled the companies to drive
up the prices they receive for electricity. The firms avoided detection by 
still
meeting the terms of their contracts, which required them to supply a certain
amount of power each hour. The sources said the tactic greatly contributed to
deteriorating physical conditions at the plants, leading to the record level 
of
outages now plaguing California plants.

???The senate committee, which convened in March after The Chronicle reported
that power companies had overstated the growth in demand for electricity in
California, has obtained confidential bidding and generation data for
power-generating companies. Dunn said the data will be analyzed to determine
which plants employed the ramping tactic. He added that the issue would be
examined in a public hearing in the coming weeks.

???Meanwhile, pressure continued to mount on generating companies that drove
electricity supplies through the roof during the past year.

???Sources said the California Public Utilities Commission, which is
investigating allegedly unnecessary plant shutdowns, has narrowed its focus. 
It
is targeting several plants that had no apparent defects yet went offline 
during
periods when prices were rising because of limited electricity supplies.

???Commissioner Jeff Brown said the names of these plants are under court 
seal.
However, Dow Jones reported yesterday that one of them was a San Diego-area
plant co-owned by Dynegy Inc. of Houston and NRG Inc. of Minneapolis. Another
was a Pittsburg plant owned by Mirant Corp. of Atlanta. The companies denied 
the
allegations.

???On another front, Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, and Assembly Speaker
Robert Hertzberg, D-Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County), were expected to file a
lawsuit this morning against the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee for 
failing
to carry out its stated duty of ensuring "just and reasonable" electricity 
rates.

???"Their central failing is that they don't follow the law," Burton said in 
an
interview. "Either they're letting their friends within the industry or their
ideology get in the way of their public responsibility."

???The California attorney general's office also is pressing forward with an
investigation into the practices of wholesale power companies.

??-----------------------------------------------------------


CHART:
Offline firms
???Reliant Energy had more outages during a 39-day period examined by The

Chronicle than any other power provider. Outage numbers were calculated by

multiplying the number of a company's generators that were either fully or

partially offline by the number of days they were out.

??Firm ????Megawatts
???Reliant ???319
???Southern ??310
???AES ???????278
???Duke ??????261
???PG&E ??????249



???E-mail Christian Berthelsen at cberthelsen@sfchronicle.com.

GRAPHIC: CHART: SEE END OF TEXT

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????18 of 85 DOCUMENTS

?????????????????Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.

?????????????????????????The San Francisco Chronicle

?????????????????????MAY 22, 2001, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A1

LENGTH: 1527 words

HEADLINE: Half-hour notice of blackouts planned;

FAST ALERTS: Power grid operator may send voice, e-mail messages

SOURCE: Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

BYLINE: Lynda Gledhill

DATELINE: Sacramento

BODY:
Californians will receive 30 minutes' warning that blackouts may be imposed --
enough time, it is hoped, to get out of the elevator or through a dangerous
intersection, the state's power grid managers said yesterday.

???The California Independent System Operator also will provide a daily power
forecast 24 hours in advance so residents and businesses can plan for 
blackouts
the same way people prepare for severe storms.

???"We want a system that is proactive," said Carl Guardino, an ISO board
member and president of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. "When the last
few rolling blackouts hit there was as little as two minutes' warning. Two
minutes may be fine in a football game, but it's not fine for California's
economy or safety."

???ISO officials also said they are examining high-tech ways of quickly
spreading the word about impending blackouts to homeowners and businesses
through mass e-mails, faxes, automated phone calls and pager messages.

???The plan, detailed in a report issued yesterday, still falls far short of
other proposals being pushed in the Legislature. Lawmakers have suggested
scheduling blackout days months in advance and having California join with 
other
Western states to form a "buyer's cartel" that would refuse to pay for power
when prices become too high.

???"It's not the report I was expecting, but 30 minutes of notice is certainly
better than two," said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Ray. "No matter how you
slice it, this summer is going to be miserable. The question is whether we 
want
to have planned misery or unplanned misery."

???A spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association,
which commissioned a recent report that found unplanned blackouts could cost 
the
state economy $21.8 billion, said the ISO policy changes will be a tremendous
help to many businesses.

???"In this electrically unreliable world, any notification manufacturers can
get is good," said Gino DeCaro, a spokesman for the association. "While 30
minutes won't be enough for some, for most manufacturers it will be 
sufficient."
The ISO will wait for guidance from the governor and lawmakers regarding more
complicated issues such as the creation of scheduled blackouts, said Michael
Florio, an ISO board member and official at The Utility Reform Network.

???"There are bigger public policy ramifications," Florio said.

???The ideas will be discussed in greater detail at an ISO board meeting
Thursday. Stephanie McCorkle, an ISO spokeswoman, said the changes are just
updates of policies already in place.

???WARNING OF 'PROBABLE' BLACKOUTS

???The 30-minute advance-notification system, scheduled to go into effect 
early
next month, would warn of "probable" blackouts, including the amount of load
that will have to be curtailed in each service area.

???Until now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning,
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. The utilities also 
have
resisted giving warnings, saying they did not want to tip off burglars and 
other
criminals.

???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, said ISO spokeswoman Lorie O'Donley.

???Also planned by the ISO is a "Power Watch/Power Warning" system that would
provide a 24-hour notice of high-demand days.

???Under the two-tiered system, a "Power Watch" would be declared whenever a
Stage One or Stage Two alert is likely, while a "Power Warning" would be 
issued
whenever there is at least a 50 percent chance of a Stage Three alert.

???With one report suggesting California may see as many as 700 hours of
rolling blackouts this summer, lawmakers are hard at work trying to find ways 
to
make the outages easier for power customers to cope with.

???The idea of a buyer's cartel, the subject of a Capitol hearing today, would
have California -- in partnership with other states -- set a firm ceiling on
what it will pay power producers for electricity this summer -- and not one 
dime
more.

???The idea, which has attracted the support of some key lawmakers and the
cautious interest of Gov. Gray Davis, could potentially curtail the 
exorbitantly
high prices the state has been paying for electricity.

???The trade-off would be the likelihood of more frequent blackouts than if 
the
state continues to pay any price electricity sellers demand.

???The maximum the state would pay would be set by a formula, based on such
things as the cost of natural gas. A reasonable profit for power producers 
would
be built in, supporters said.

???DESIGNATING BLACKOUT DAYS

???Meanwhile, Assemblyman Mike Briggs, R-Fresno, will introduce a bill today
that would require the state's utilities and Public Utilities Commission to
designate days for potential blackouts to each block.

???For example, a customer located in Block 3 of Pacific Gas and Electric 
Co.'s
service area could be told in advance that power will be turned off June 5 if
blackouts are needed that day.

???"Right now, every day is a potential blackout day," Briggs said. "This way
people would know when their potential days are."

??---------------------------------------------------------

??On alert

???-- When demand is high, the ISO will forecast peak demand, power supply and
weather 24 hours in advance.

???-- A "power watch" will be issued when it is likely the grid will reach
Stage 1 (system is within 7% of running out of power) or Stage 2 (system is
within 5% of running out of power).

???-- A "power warning" will be issued when there is at least a 50% chance of 
a
Stage 3 alert (demand is within 1.5% of supply).


??---------------------------------------------------------

???Who calls a blackout?

???Engineers in Folsom at the Independent System Operator keep watch on the
state's power consumption. When they determine that energy reserves have 
dipped
below 1.5 percent of available capacity, the ISO can order utilities to start
cutting juice. Officials said this week they would give 30 minutes' notice
before blackouts begin. The ISO tells the utilities exactly how much power to
cut.

???Q: Who decides who gets blacked out and for how long?

???A: That's up to the utilities. PG&E has divided its 4.5 million customers
into 14 blocks; each block is darkened for one to two hours at a time. The
blocks are defined by PG&E's network of circuits rather than by geography. 
Thus,
neighborhoods in San Francisco, Oakland and Pleasant Hill can be blacked out
simultaneously.

???Q: How many users are blacked out at once?

???A: Each of PG&E's 14

???blocks represents about 550 megawatts of electricity. (A megawatt is enough
electricity to power 1,000 homes.) If PG&E is told to cut more than 550
megawatts, it can shut down two or more blocks at a time. PG&E also can black
out smaller portions within each block if the ISO's requirements are for less
than 550 megawatts.

???Q: How is power shut off?

???A: This is a straightforward matter of shutting off circuits in a power
substation by computer or sending a crew to flip the switches by hand.

???Q: How many days of blackouts have we had this year and how many customers
have been affected?

???A: A total of 3,035,000 customers have been blacked out in the six days of
rolling blackouts since Jan. 1, 2001.

???Q: Which block of customers will be blacked out next?

???A: Some or all customers in Block 1.

???Q: How do I know what block I'm in?

???A: Look for the words "Rotating Outage Block" followed by a number on your
bill. If it says Block 50, you share an electrical circuit with a hospital,
police station or other "essential service" that is normally exempt from 
service
cuts.



???Q: What should I do when the lights go out?

???A: Power experts advise:

???-- Turn off all lights and appliances to prevent damage-causing power 
surges
when service is restored. Leave one light on to indicate when the electricity 
is
back.

???-- Use caution when driving because traffic signals may be out. Treat all
intersections as a four-way stop.

???-- To protect food, open refrigerator and freezer doors only when 
absolutely
necessary.

???-- Keep 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 only your 
home
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.

???-- When the power returns, turn on one appliance 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.

???-- Tell children who are home alone to remain calm, to turn off the TV and
computers, and not to use candles.

???Sources: PG&E, Chronicle staff

???Chronicle Graphic

??E-mail Lynda Gledhill at lgledhill@sfchronicle.com.

GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????21 of 85 DOCUMENTS

?????????????????????Copyright 2001 Gannett Company, Inc.

??????????????????????????????????USA TODAY

?????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday, FIRST EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5A

LENGTH: 492 words

HEADLINE: Americans anxious about gas prices and energy woes, skeptical of 
Bush

BYLINE: Richard Benedetto

BODY:
An American public stunned by rising gasoline prices and worried about
electricity shortages greeted President Bush's energy plan with skepticism, a
new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

??The findings suggest Bush faces a major selling job if he expects to 
persuade
Congress to enact the proposals he unveiled last week and convince the public
that he is acting in its interest.

??"He needs to do something that will address energy problems in the short 
term
and stop talking about everything being long-range," said Jaime Regalado, a
political scientist at California State University-Los Angeles. "And he's got 
to
stop looking so cozy with business."

??The president's proposal emphasizes stepped-up production and modest
conservation measures. It received mixed reviews from an anxious public that
appears to want quick relief but sees the plan only helping after several 
years.

??Although Bush says his program will allow Americans to retain the lifestyle
they are accustomed to, only 30% of those surveyed said they believe it. Two 
of
three said major lifestyle changes will be necessary to solve the nation's
energy woes.

??Nearly half said the Bush plan would not do enough to conserve energy, and
43% said the plan would do too little to increase production.

??Americans also were split over the Bush proposal to increase the number of
nuclear power plants to generate electricity: 49% for and 46% against.

??The tepid response to the Bush energy plan might have been a factor in
raising his job-disapproval rating from 31% a week ago to 36% now, the highest
of his presidency. His 56% job-approval rating did not change from a week ago.

??Bush's strongest disapproval came from Democrats, low-income earners, women
under 50 and residents of California, a state wrestling with electricity 
shortages.

??California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was highly critical of the Bush plan.
He said it "does nothing to address the astronomical run-up in the prices of
electricity, natural gas and gasoline (and) favors more energy production at 
the
expense of everything else."

??White House spokesman Claire Buchan said the president will continue to 
press
his plan, regardless of the polls: "The president does not govern by polls. 
This
is a serious issue that has been neglected for years, and he has begun a 
serious
dialogue with the American people. It will continue."

??Most poll respondents said they see threats of electricity shortages and the
rising price of gasoline and heating fuels as serious problems, although only
12% said they see a "state of crisis." And most of those polled said Bush is 
not
doing enough to address those problems.

??At the same time, most said energy companies have too much influence over 
the
administration's energy polices, an argument Democrats raise.

??One in five said the Bush administration deserves a great deal of blame for
the energy problems; 28% put a great deal of that blame on the Clinton
administration.



LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????22 of 85 DOCUMENTS

????????????????Copyright 2001 News World Communications, Inc.

?????????????????????????????The Washington Times

?????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday, Final Edition

SECTION: PART A; NATION; INSIDE POLITICS; Pg. A6

LENGTH: 1242 words

BYLINE: Greg Pierce; THE WASHINGTON TIMES

BODY:

??FIRST HISPANIC PRESIDENT

??"Some years ago, the novelist Toni Morrison, in a Time essay, proclaimed 
Bill
Clinton America's first black president," Richard Rodriguez writes in an op-ed
piece in the New York Times.

??"Leaving aside the affront to American blacks that Ms. ?Morrison's conceit
carries today, it might be useful to regard George Bush as America's first
Hispanic president," said Mr. ?Rodriguez, an editor with Pacific News Service.

??"It's not just his ability to speak Spanish or his recent White House
celebration of Cinco de Mayo. ?George Bush, I think, sees Texas as a state of 
el
norte. ?And when he imagines the future, he thinks of the north and the south.
Maybe that is the reason for his optimism: the north and the south, Alaska to
Patagonia, extend farther, suggest a future wider, than the American future
bounded by coastlines.

??"Along with his far northern ambition for the Alaskan wilderness, Mr. Bush
has broached with the Mexican president, Vicente Fox, the possibility of
building power plants in Mexico for American consumers north of the border.
Such schemes reveal him to be perhaps a visionary, as much as he seems a man
oblivious of the lessons John Muir discovered in California.

??"Which is only to say, there is a wisdom in the way the Texan sees our
American future. ?There is also a wisdom to the way Californians understand 
that
future."

??FRANK LEADS CHARGE

??A group of 22 House Democrats yesterday sent a letter to all U.S. senators
urging them to delay the confirmation of solicitor general candidate Theodore
Olson "until he gives a full and honest accounting of his role" in a 
magazine's
investigations of former President Bill Clinton.

??"As members of various House committees with jurisdiction over the
investigations that resulted from accusations of wrongdoing against President
Clinton, we became very familiar with the quality of these accusations," they
wrote. ?"To our disappointment, we found that there was a consistent pattern 
. .
. of ideological opponents of the president making irresponsible, unfounded, 
and
often scurrilous charges."

??Led by Rep. ?Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, the group is asking
senators to defeat Mr. ?Olson's nomination "if it turns out that he was deeply
involved in this disinformation campaign."

??Mr. ?Olson has told the Senate Judiciary Committee that, as a member of the
American Spectator's board of directors, he learned of the magazine's 
so-called
"Arkansas Project" in mid-1997. He has said he did not take an active role in
the investigative project.

??The panel voted 9-9 on party lines last week on Mr. ?Olson's nomination, and
Senate Democrats are demanding more documents and information about his
involvement with the magazine before a floor vote on the nomination.

??BUSH COURTS RIORDAN

??Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican serving his final days in
that office, may run for governor against incumbent Democrat Gray Davis in 
2002,
National Journal reports.

??"You can say I'm giving it serious thought," Mr. ?Riordan said in an
interview with the magazine.

??Previously, the 71-year-old Mr. ?Riordan had expressed support for Los
Angeles investment banker William E. ?Simon Jr., who has been readying his
candidacy for the Republican nomination. ?But that was before a May 1 phone 
call
from President Bush in which the president wished the mayor a happy birthday -
and urged him to think about the governorship.

??"I think he sees this as a chance to revive the party, and the president was
extremely encouraging and very persuasive," Mr. ?Riordan said. ?"As you know,
the Republican Party in California has been an endangered species now for
several years."

??BUSH BETTERS DAVIS

??California Gov. ?Gray Davis blames President Bush for his state's 
electricity
woes, but a new survey finds that Californians have a higher opinion of the
president than of their governor.

??Only 46 percent of 2,001 respondents in a poll conducted by the Public 
Policy
Institute of California gave Mr. ?Davis a positive job-approval rating, down
from 63 percent in January. ?And only 29 percent of those polled approved of 
the
way the Democrat is handling the electricity crisis. Sixty percent disapprove.

??Mr. ?Bush, on the other hand, had a 57 percent job-approval rating, with 36
percent disapproving. ?Thirty-three percent approved of his handling of the
electricity problem, while 56 percent disapproved.

??HIS BETTER HALF

??June's Talk magazine recalls the relationship of President Johnson and his
wife, Lady Bird, who was "keenly aware that a President might seek out the
companionship of other women," according to Kati Marton's new book, "Hidden
Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History."

??"If I wanted him to do without the stimulation, knowledge or assistance that
other women offered him, it would, after a period, have diminished me," said
Mrs. ?Johnson, who had a unique understanding of "what she called the 'help 
and
support' of other women," according to the book.

??Mrs. ?Johnson managed to keep an eye on LBJ's extramarital liaisons and even
learned a thing or two from his mistresses. ?"I learned how to dress better 
from
this one, to always wear lipstick from another, about art or music from
another," she said.

??It was well-known around the White House that Mr. ?Johnson was a womanizer,
but such things were kept hidden by the media in those halcyon days.

??"Suddenly, the President appeared and pulled up a chair," recalled one
veteran reporter in the book. ?"'Now boys, let me tell you something. 
Sometimes
you may see me coming out of a room in the White House with a woman. ?You just
remember,' he said, 'that is none of your business.' We just said, 'Yes, sir,'
and stuck to it pretty much. ?That's just the way things were then."

??HESTON RE-ELECTED

??Charlton Heston was elected to an unprecedented fourth term as president of
the 4.3-million-member National Rifle Association yesterday.

??At a meeting following the group's 130th annual convention in Kansas City,
Mo., the 76-member board of directors - whose ranks include the likes of
conservative hero Oliver North and country singer Louise Mandrell - elected 
Mr.
Heston by unanimous acclaim, Reuters reports.

??Mr. ?Heston, 77, is an Academy Award-winning actor whose signature roles 
have
included Moses in "The Ten Commandments" and the title role of "Ben-Hur," for
which he won a best actor Oscar.

??The NRA changed its rules last year to allow Mr. ?Heston a third one-year
term. ?At this year's members' meeting on Saturday, Mr. ?Heston told the
assembled gun owners, "Until recently, I'd planned for this to be my farewell
address as your president. ?But I've been asked, and I've agreed, to stand 
for a
fourth term."

??FORGET THE BADGES

??"The long-running internal White House security system denoting who can and
can't see top-secret info is getting the boot, sources say. ?Reason: The 
Bushies
don't need no stinking badges," Paul Bedard writes in U.S. News & World 
Report.

??"The system caused problems from the start when the feelings of top aides
were hurt when they found that they didn't have the needed stars to get into
national security briefings. ?A longtime White House security official says:
'The stars are all going away from everyone's passes. ?The new administration
does not like them.' However, a replacement system hasn't been designed."

??* Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or by e-mail
(gpierce@washingtontimes.com).

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????23 of 85 DOCUMENTS

????????????????????Copyright 2001 Chicago Tribune Company

???????????????????????????????Chicago Tribune

???????????????May 22, 2001 Tuesday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION

SECTION: News; Pg. 6; ZONE: N

LENGTH: 444 words

HEADLINE: California to issue blackout forecasts

BYLINE: By Jennifer Coleman, Associated Press.

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??Californians will soon be waking up to the weather, the traffic and a
blackout forecast.

??The operator of the state's electricity grid said Monday that it will start
issuing forecasts 24 hours ahead of expected rolling blackouts.

??The agency also promised to give 30 minutes' warning before it orders
utilities to pull the plug on homes and businesses, a move that could prevent
traffic accidents, stuck elevators and costly shutdowns at factories.

??Up to now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning,
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. The utilities have 
also
resisted giving warnings, saying they did not want to tip off criminals.

??"People are asking for additional notice, so we're doing our best to make
that a reality," said Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the California 
Independent System Operator.

??Californians have been warned that rolling blackouts could be a regular
feature this summer. The state's power system, crippled by a botched effort at
deregulation, has been unable to produce or buy enough electricity to power 
air
conditioners on hot days.

??The rolling blackouts move from neighborhood to neighborhood in a sequence
that is determined by the utilities and is difficult or impossible for the
public to predict. The outages last 60 to 90 minutes and then skip to another
neighborhood.

??Because of the lack of notice, the six days of rolling blackouts to hit the
state so far this year have led to pileups at intersections suddenly left
without stoplights, people trapped in elevators and losses caused by stopped
production lines. People with home medical equipment like oxygen fret they 
that
they will be cut off without warning.

??The new plan by the ISO borrows from the language of weather forecasters:
Beginning May 30, it will issue a "power watch" or "power warning" that will
give notice the grid could be headed toward blackouts.

??The ISO will issue 30-minute warnings to the media and others before any
blackouts begin. However, the ISO will not say what neighborhoods will be hit.

??"Any time is better than none," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the
California Retailers Association. "Obviously, we'd like more, but we're
realistic about what they can do."

??The plan falls far short of what some consumer groups and legislators are
demanding.

??State Sen. Debra Bowen has said she envisions giving consumers three to five
days' notice that their power will be cut during a particular period, so
businesses could shut down or shift their operations to non-peak hours such as
nights and weekends.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????24 of 85 DOCUMENTS

???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

???????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle

?????????????????????????????5:39 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 506 words

HEADLINE: One power plant is begun as another is finished

DATELINE: PHOENIX

BODY:

??Arizona's power story is quite different from that of California: In 
Arizona,
one plant is going on line just as another's construction is begun.

??But power-starved California should benefit nonetheless.

??A 120-megawatt power plant in southwestern metro Phoenix being dedicated on
Tuesday was expected to be in commercial production by the month's end. The
plant, owned by local power wholesaler Pinnacle West Energy, will produce 
enough
electricity to serve about 120,000 homes, though much of it may be sold
elsewhere.

??On Monday, PG&E National Energy Group, a sister of California's financially
squeezed PG&E Gas and Electric, broke ground for its planned $500 million
generating plant west of Phoenix that will use natural gas.

??It's one of up to 11 plants planned for Arizona by out-of-state interests.
Three such plants are expected to begin production this summer, though much of
their power also may be sold to other states.

??That's true of the PG&E National plant, too, but those who live in the
vicinity don't care.

??"We have nothing out here now," said Elisa Bigbey of Harquahala Valley. "We
want to get something going."

??The plant will increase the assessed valuation of the area by 17 times and
will generate $10.7 million in new property taxes. PG&E already has given the
local school district a portable shed in which to store records because the
district's only school was damaged by a November fire.

??PG&E also is making a no-strings outright gift to the community of $550,000
in 11 annual cash installments. A committee of local residents will decide how
to spend the windfall.

??Meanwhile, Panda Energy of Dallas and Teco Power Services of Tampa, Fla.,
recently broke ground for a plant south of the PG&E site, and Duke Energy 
North
America of Charlotte, N.C., and Sempra Energy of San Diego each have started
plants in the Arlington Valley.

??Pinnacle West Generating has a plant under construction near the Palo Verde
nuclear plant in this same general area.

??Additionally, the Desert Basin Plant in Casa Grande is owned by Reliant 
Energy of Houston. The Griffith Energy Plant near Kingman is owned by Duke 
Energy and P&L Global. The Southpoint plant, set to begin production next 
month
near Bullhead City, is owned by Calpine Corp. of San Jose.

??Such plants have come to Arizona because there's lot of space in Arizona,
water is relatively inexpensive, there's access to natural gas, regulators are
friendly and the plants can be situated at a distance from urban air pollution
controls.

??The PG&E plant will produce nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxides that can 
lead
to formation of ozone, an air pollution problem against Phoenix has been
fighting for years.

??Additionally, the plant will use 6,500 acre feet of water a year, enough to
meet the needs of a town of about 30,000. PG&E expects to use surplus Central
Arizona Project water from the distant Colorado River - but the Harquahala
Valley has a good supply of underground water PG&E can tap if the CAP surplus
disappears.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????25 of 85 DOCUMENTS

???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

???????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle

?????????????????????????????3:48 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 718 words

HEADLINE: Developments in California's energy crisis

BYLINE: By The Associated Press

BODY:

??Developments in California's energy crisis:

??MONDAY:


??- No power alerts as reserves stay above 7 percent.

??- State power grid operators say they'll soon be giving residents and
businesses 30 minutes notice before they order rolling blackouts. The
Independent System Operator will also be issuing a daily energy forecast with
projected supply and demand, and the likelihood of blackouts. Several 
lawmakers
say they'll introduce plans that would give Californians even more notice of
blackouts - from one day to one month.

??- The state auditor releases a report on the state's energy crisis, saying
previous estimates that the state could avoid blackouts this summer are overly
optimistic. The Bureau of State Audits also criticized the California Public
Utilities Commission, saying the commission hasn't responded to the crisis by
expediting transmission line project.

??- Gov. Gray Davis is in Chicago, speaking with city officials there about
blackout procedures.

??- Davis' energy advisers say that the state is meeting its energy goals,
despite doubts raised by Controller Kathleen Connell and other critics. 
Connell
questioned whether the state can buy enough electricity cheap enough to avoid
borrowing more than the $13.4 billion approved by state lawmakers. But Davis
adviser Joe Fichera says the state has signed more long-term power contracts
that will help keep prices low.

??- Davis' office announces that an eighth "peaker" power plant has been
licensed. The 135-megawatt plant in Gilroy is expected to be online by the end
of September. The California Energy Commission says that more than 10,000
megawatts of new electricity since April 1999.

??- The California Energy Commission also announces increased rebates for
renewable energy systems - such as solar panels, fuel cells or small wind
generation. Rebates of up to 50 percent on the system are available for
residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural users.

??- Republican legislative leaders criticize Davis for spending tax money on a
political communications firm that previously advised Vice President Al Gore.
Davis is hiring Gore's former press secretary and deputy campaign manager for
six months at $30,000 a month to coordinate the governor's communications on
energy issues. Senate GOP Leader Jim Brulte and Assembly Republican Leader 
Dave
Cox say Davis should pay them with campaign funds, not taxpayers' money.

??- Shares of Edison International closed at $11.23, down 51 cents. PG&E Corp.
dropped 48 cents to close at $11.16.

??WHAT'S NEXT:

??- Davis' representatives continue negotiating with Sempra, the parent 
company
of San Diego Gas and Electric Co., to buy the utility's transmission lines.

??- Davis is scheduled to sign a bill Tuesday that would expedite power plant
siting.

??- Republican Assemblyman Mike Briggs plans to introduce a bill that would
allow people to know a month ahead if they will be affected by rolling
blackouts.

??THE PROBLEM:

??High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission glitches and a tight
supply worsened by scarce hydroelectric power in the Northwest and maintenance
at aging California power plants are all factors in California's electricity 
crisis.

??Edison and PG&E say they've lost nearly $14 billion since June to high
wholesale prices the state's electricity deregulation law bars them from 
passing
on to consumers. PG&E, saying it hasn't received the help it needs from
regulators or state lawmakers, filed for federal bankruptcy protection April 
6.

??Electricity and natural gas suppliers, scared off by the two companies' poor
credit ratings, are refusing to sell to them, leading the state in January to
start buying power for the utilities' nearly 9 million residential and 
business
customers. The state is also buying power for a third investor-owned utility,
San Diego Gas & Electric, which is in better financial shape than much larger
Edison and PG&E but also struggling with high wholesale power costs.

??The Public Utilities Commission has approved average rate increases of 36
percent for residential customers and 38 percent for commercial customers, and
hikes of up to 49 percent for industrial customers and 15 or 20 percent for
agricultural customers to help finance the state's multibillion-dollar power
buys.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????26 of 85 DOCUMENTS

???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

???????????????????????May 22, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle

?????????????????????????????3:05 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 576 words

HEADLINE: California will forecast blackouts and warn the public

BYLINE: By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO, Calif.

BODY:

??The operator of California's electricity grid is offering a partial answer 
to
a major consumer complaint, planning to give the public a half-hour's warning
before shutting off the lights.

??Beginning May 30, the Independent System Operator also plans to issue
warnings similar to weather advisories 24 hours before expected blackouts.

??Up to now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning,
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. The utilities have 
also
resisted giving warnings, saying they did not want to tip off burglars and 
other
criminals.

??"Definitely, it's a good idea," said Shirley Starr, a racetrack employee in
the Los Angeles suburb of Rosemead. "If I know it's going to happen, I won't
defrost the refrigerator or something."

??Like some business customers and consumer groups, she wondered if 30 minutes
warning would be enough.

??"A lot of people, if they are at work, a half hour isn't going to do any
good," Starr said.

??"I think it should be more than 30 minutes," said George Aguilar, an animal
control officer in El Monte. "It should be at least eight hours."

??Californians have been warned that rolling blackouts could be a regular
feature this summer. The state's power system, crippled by a botched effort at
deregulation, has been unable to produce or buy enough electricity to power 
air
conditioners on hot days.

??The rolling blackouts move from neighborhood to neighborhood in a sequence
that is determined by the utilities and is difficult or impossible for the
public to predict. The outages last 60 to 90 minutes and then skip to another
neighborhood.

??Because of the lack of notice, the six days of rolling blackouts to hit the
state so far this year have led to pileups at intersections suddenly left
without stoplights, trapped people in elevators, and caused business losses by
bringing production lines to a halt. People with home medical equipment like
oxygen fret they that they will be cut off without warning.

??The new plan by the ISO borrows from the language of weather forecasters: It
will issue a "power watch" or "power warning" that will give notice the grid
could be headed toward blackouts.

??The ISO will issue 30-minute warning to the media and others before any
blackouts actually begin. However, the ISO will not say what neighborhoods 
will
be hit.

??"It's better than no notice," said John Handley of California Independent
Grocers.

??He said stores could use the warning to rush customers through checkout and
even move items to cold storage if necessary.

??"Once the power goes out, we can't ring anyone up," Handley said.

??Many small factories have production lines that cannot be interrupted 
without
risk to an entire lot of whatever they produce, said Brad Ward, president and
chief executive of the Small Manufacturers Association of California.

??For example, a manufacturer might be using acid to etch something on a piece
of metal. If power is shut off suddenly, the acid might not be removed in time
and the piece would be ruined.

??"This is really, really good news," Ward said.

??The ISO said it also is looking into high-tech ways it can get word of an
impending blackout quickly to homeowners and businesses through mass e-mails,
faxes, automated phone calls and pager messages.


??On the Net:

??California Independent System Operator: http://www.caiso.com
 
LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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???????????????????????Copyright 2001 Associated Press

??????????????????????????????????AP Online

?????????????????????????????May 21, 2001; Monday

SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item

LENGTH: 793 words

HEADLINE: ?AP Top News at 7 p.m. EDT Monday, May 21, 2001

BYLINE: ADAM JOYCE

BODY:

??Ford to Recall Millions of Tires

??WASHINGTON (AP)


??Ford Motor Co. plans to replace 10 million to 13 million Firestone tires, 
far
surpassing the already huge recall ordered last summer by 
Bridgestone/Firestone
Inc., auto industry sources told The Associated Press today. Ford CEO Jacques
Nasser said he would make an announcement tomorrow about ''actions to 
address''
issues involving Firestone Wilderness AT tires. Earlier today, Firestone said 
it
no longer would sell tires to Ford, ending a 95-year relationship that 
unraveled
with last summer's recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires, which have been 
linked
to at least 174 U.S. traffic deaths.



??Cheney Hosting GOP Donors

??WASHINGTON (AP)


??Four hundred Republican donors are getting a private reception with Vice
President Dick Cheney at his government residence tonight as part of a GOP
fund-raising blitz that critics say is reminiscent of the Clinton White House
coffees. Fund-raising watchdogs said Cheney's use of his residence was no
different from President Clinton's use of the White House for fund-raising,
which became the focus of Republican-led congressional inquiries. But a
Republican National Committee spokesman said the Cheney event ''is not a
fund-raiser.''



??GOP Set to Complete Tax Bill

??WASHINGTON (AP)


??Even before tonight's expected Senate passage, the Bush administration and
congressional Republicans were looking ahead to rewriting the 11-year, $1.35
trillion tax cut plan in negotiations set to begin tomorrow. The bill was to 
be
sent to a House-Senate conference committee, where conservatives will push to
accelerate income tax cuts and to slash the top 39.6 percent income tax rate
more deeply than the 36 percent called for in the measure.



??California to Forecast Blackouts

??SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)


??The operator of the state's electricity grid said today it will start 
issuing
forecasts 24 hours ahead of expected rolling blackouts. The agency also 
promised
to give 30 minutes' warning before it orders utilities to pull the plug on 
homes
and businesses, a move that could prevent traffic accidents, stuck elevators 
and
costly shutdowns at factories. The state's power system, crippled by a botched
effort at deregulation, has been unable to produce or buy enough electricity 
to
power air conditioners on hot days.



??Powell Calls for Mideast Talks

??WASHINGTON (AP)


??Secretary of State Colin Powell today endorsed recommendations aimed at
ending the violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and he appointed U.S.
diplomat William Burns to shepherd a resumption of talks. Powell called for an
immediate cease-fire and said a new report may make possible the ''framework 
and
timeline'' for getting the parties to negotiate after eight months of 
violence.



??Bush Addresses Alma Mater

??NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)


??President Bush, acknowledging his raucous years as a Yale University 
student,
returned today to the alma mater he once scorned and told graduates, ''Life is
ours to live, but not to waste.'' There were boos and protests from some in 
the
crowd, but his remarks were generally well received, with laughter at his 
jokes.



??House GOP Backs Immigrant Visa Extension

??WASHINGTON (AP)


??House Republicans pressed ahead today with a bill to extend by four months
the deadline for illegal immigrants to stay in the country and apply for 
visas.
The House bill was scheduled for a vote tonight in an expedited process. An
estimated 640,000 illegal immigrants were eligible under the Legal Immigration
and Family Equity Act to apply for visas without leaving the country. The law
took effect in December and expired April 30.



??Iraq Rejects Plan to Ease U.N. Sanctions

??BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)


??President Saddam Hussein today rejected a British proposal to ease U.N.
sanctions on Iraq, saying the plan shows that the embargo had failed. The
proposal, which is endorsed by the United States, would still bar Iraq from
importing goods on a U.N. list of military-related items.



??Nasdaq Gains 107; Dow Closes Up 36

??NEW YORK (AP)


??Wall Street went on a technology buying spree today, sending the Nasdaq
composite index soaring more than 100 points. The Nasdaq ended up 106.71 to
2,305.59, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 36.18 at 11,337.92.
Gainers led losers 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.



??Raiders Lose $1.2B Suit Vs. NFL

??LOS ANGELES (AP)


??The Oakland Raiders lost their $1.2 billion lawsuit against the National
Football League today as jurors rejected claims that the league sabotaged a 
deal
for a new stadium and forced them to leave Los Angeles. The jury rejected
allegations of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and other violations of 
the
NFL constitution and bylaws.



LOAD-DATE: May 21, 2001

??????????????????????????????28 of 85 DOCUMENTS

???????????????????????Copyright 2001 Associated Press

??????????????????????????????????AP Online

?????????????????????????????May 21, 2001; Monday

SECTION: International news

LENGTH: 678 words

HEADLINE: ?Monday's Canada News Briefs

BYLINE: The Associated Press


BODY:

??Toronto Taxi Cabs Are Going High-Tech for Security

??TORONTO (AP)


??It has been more than a year since a taxicab driver was killed on the job in
Canada, but safety is still a paramount concern on some big-city streets.

??Because of that, the next time you slide into a cab in Canada's most 
populous
city, you may find yourself staring into a camera.

??Late last year, Toronto city council enacted a bylaw requiring that taxicabs
be equipped with emergency lights and either a security camera or technology
that allows a computer to locate the car.

??The bylaw was largely prompted by the murders of cabbies Mohammadulah
Saighani, 48, on Dec. 20, 1999, and Baljinder Singh Rai, 48, killed two days
later on New Year's Day 2000.

??The deadline was set for late last month but some of the safety devices are
still being phased in.

??In April 2000, the city with the world's most infamous taxicabs, New York
City, implemented a safety overhaul, requiring that all cabs be equipped with
either a security camera or bullet-resistant partition. It also banned cab
drivers from talking on cellphones while driving, or as city officials put it,
''No Yakking While Hacking!'' concludes the study from the agency's compliance
programs branch.

??___

??Energy Group: Ontario Consumers Must Be Wary on Electricity Rebate

??TORONTO (AP)


??Ontario consumers may be unwittingly signing away a valuable rebate on their
electricity prices to private utility companies, says the head of an energy
watchdog group.

??The Market Power Mitigation rebate was created in 1999 to offset a potential
rise in power prices once Ontario's electricity market is opened to 
competition,
sometime next spring.

??Sales representatives from private electricity marketing companies have been
knocking on Ontario doors for months, asking homeowners to sign on for a fixed
electricity rate when the market opens.

??Tom Adams, director of Energy Probe, says consumers may not notice a
fine-print clause which, in many of the agreements, hands the potential rebate
over to the electricity firm.

??While there may be nothing wrong with such a clause, consumers by and large
don't even know it or the rebate exists, Adams says.

??''If the price is right, it's a balanced transaction, but the problem is
nobody has any information, and the public agencies aren't doing their job of
explaining it to us.''

??The rebate is supposed to kick in for consumers when the yearly average cost
of electricity for a household rises above a benchmark price of 3.8 cents per
kilowatt hour.

??The rebate is designed to shield consumers from massive price spikes such as
those seen in Alberta and California, where deregulated markets have recently
seen a tripling of prices and rolling blackouts.

??___

??Man Accused of Killing Alberta Girl Is Due in Court

??LETHBRIDGE, Alberta (AP)


??Sylvia Koopmans was bracing Monday for the moment when she would face the
family friend charged with the murder of her youngest daughter.

??Koopmans said she planned to attend Tuesday's first court appearance of
Harold Anthony Gallup, 31, who is charged with the kidnapping and first-degree
murder of five-year-old Jessica.

??''I need to be there,'' said Koopmans, who planned to watch the provincial
court proceeding supported by her boyfriend and her father.

??''I need him to see me ... I want him to see my face.''

??Gallup, whose girlfriend Roseanna Soenens was Koopmans' best friend, was
charged Saturday by Lethbridge police. He had been in custody since May 12, 
when
he was charged with a car break-in at nearby High River.

??Koopmans said Gallup was a regular visitor to her home and had been playing
there with Jessica, her sister and two other kids the day the little girl
disappeared.

??Jessica vanished May 4 after she went to play at a friend's house.

??Her tiny body, naked and bruised, was found a week after she disappeared. A
couple walking a dog made the grisly discovery in a farmer's field near Fort
Macleod, Alberta, about 50 kilometres from her home.

??Police have not said if she was sexually assaulted.

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 2001

??????????????????????????????30 of 85 DOCUMENTS

?????????????????????????????The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 1473 words

HEADLINE: Infrastructure strains tearing at West

BYLINE: By PAULINE ARRILLAGA, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: LAS VEGAS

BODY:

??Drive down the Las Vegas Strip and take in the sights: The fountains and
canals, the marquees that light up the sky for miles, the people pressed
shoulder to shoulder and bumper to bumper.

??Las Vegas is a desert awash in water and watts, a city built in defiance of
its very surroundings. It is at once a triumph of technology and Western
gumption, and a reminder of how tenuous it all is.

??The great growth in the West followed a simple recipe: Water plus power
equals population. There was always a feeling that the land was so big you
couldn't use it up, not the resources, not the space.

??Today there are signs that's no longer true. In California, blackouts. In
Oregon and Washington, drought. In Arizona, arsons to stop construction. And 
in
every rearview mirror, more traffic all the time.

??The allure of vast prairies, open skies and endless opportunity is what 
first
drew people out West. But as deserts disappear under development, 
possibilities
become problems.

??Now, with its infrastructure strained by growth, the West faces difficult
choices: Energy or environment? Freeways or orchards? Water for people or 
fish?

??"We're losing what we've come for, this ideal," says James Corless,
California director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, which aims 
to
diversify transportation systems to reduce traffic and pollution caused by
growth. "And we are loath to change."

??---

??When the streets went dark in California, a light bulb came on across the
West.

??The region saw its vulnerability. For one very important resource, demand 
had
won out over supply. What about all the others?

??"We've got an infrastructure that can't really carry much additional power.
We're starting to see the same situation with water," says John Maddox,
president of the Denver-based Center for the New West.

??And people keep coming.

??The West added more than 10 million people in the 1990s, making it the
fastest-growing region in the United States. In the next decade, another 10
million are expected.

??"What does that mean?" Maddox says. "How many new roads, new water
infrastructure and treatment facilities, how many new runways and airports?"

??Perhaps more than clogged freeways and periodic droughts, the power crisis
has brought home the reality that there are limits to growth.

??In California, electricity consumption rose 24 percent in the past five 
years
as the economy grew by 29 percent. However, no major new plants were built in
the state in the past 10 years, according to Cambridge Energy Research
Associates.

??Several projects to generate new power were shelved in the 1990s, because of
regulatory red-tape, environmental protests, economics and wariness over the
state's deregulation plan.

??As a result, the power ran low and California was forced to go to the open
market in search of electricity, sending power rates soaring and shutting out
the lights in rolling blackouts.

??California officials now predict it will take two to three years before
energy production catches up with demand.

??Meanwhile, the crisis has crossed state lines. In the Northwest, generating
capacity grew 4 percent in the 1990s, while demand grew 24 percent. That 
wasn't
a problem when abundant rain and snow produced above-average hydropower
generation between 1995 and 2000.

??Then drought hit, and generation dropped. Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Montana are about 3,000 megawatts short of the electricity they need.

??Now everyone's playing catch-up. California is on a plant-building spree,
while other states are pushing conservation and looking for alternative fuel
sources.

??Even in power-hungry Las Vegas, the mega-resorts are cutting back. The MGM
Grand refitted its 5,000 guest rooms with low-watt fluorescent bulbs and 
changed
its casino-floor lighting. Treasure Island's parking garage is switching to
sodium bulbs that use 30 percent less energy.

??But a feeling of dread is gripping some Westerners. If the lights can go 
out,
what's next? Dry faucets?

??"The thing I worry about is water," says Carol Ann Heggie-Hall, a retired
science teacher who moved from Queens, N.Y., to Henderson, Nev., in 1999. "Is
there enough water for everyone and their plants?"

??Much of the West is facing the worst drought in a quarter-century, prompting
warnings of environmental degradation, forest fires and agricultural decline.
Nevertheless, experts say the West isn't in danger of running out of water. 
The
challenge is determining who gets how much.

??"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that if the faucets ran dry in
Scottsdale, there are places to go to get water," says Joe Hunter, a power and
water specialist at the Center for the New West. "But it means shifting it 
from
one use to another."

??About 80 percent of water in most Western states is used to irrigate crops, 
a
percentage that could drop if residential supplies were strained, Hunter says.

??Western states and cities must also do more to share water.

??California has long used more than its allocation from the Colorado River,
which supplies drinking water to seven Western states. An agreement allows
California to receive surplus water if it implements conservation measures 
that
will reduce its reliance on the river in the future.

??In the meantime, Western cities are looking elsewhere to sustain the supply.
The Las Vegas Valley predicts it will reach its annual Colorado River 
allocation
by 2007, so its regional water authority is negotiating to store 1.2 million
acre feet of water in Arizona for the next 15 years.

??Beyond power and water, other infrastructure problems persist. In the Vegas
area, which added 700,000 people in the '90s, road closures due to highway
expansions are a daily occurrence.

??"There are few roads you can drive on that aren't under construction," 
admits
Jim Gibson, mayor of Henderson, a city south of Vegas that is among the
country's most rapidly growing communities.

??Without the new roads, Vegas transportation officials estimate there would 
be
2,289 miles of congestion by the year 2025, compared with 341 miles last year.

??Highways alleviate congestion, but also drive more growth.

??Interstate 5, the north-south freeway through Washington and Oregon, became 
a
growth magnet. In Colorado, Interstate 70 has opened the mountains to 
staggering
growth west of Denver.

??--

??In the fastest-growing metro area in the fastest-growing state in the
fastest-growing region of the country, Greg Cox and Dale Stark are unloading
dirt on a Las Vegas street crammed with construction workers.

??The landscapers are a rare breed in a town teeming with newcomers: Cox has
lived here all his life; Stark moved from Southern California in 1979.

??Both grumble about the changes they've seen, and both vow to leave.

??"I moved here when this town was nice," Stark says. "Now you can't drive 
down
the road without getting cut off and flipped off."

??Cox complains he can barely get around at all. A drive across town used to
take 20 minutes. Now, he grunts, "You've got to pack a lunch."

??Both agree: Even Las Vegas, the city built on the very idea of unlimited
resources and space, is reaching its limits.

??The sentiment is spreading across the West: Unbridled growth must stop.

??Planning experts insist cities must reinvest in old neighborhoods rather 
than
build new ones, and provide incentive to plan for growth in a way that
incorporates existing infrastructure.

??Portland, Ore., has been a national leader with its urban growth boundary. 
In
San Francisco, a program provides federal money to developers who build homes
near transit stops.

??Still, when initiatives to rein in growth were placed on the ballot in
several Western states last November, most of the big measures failed -
including one in Arizona to force developers to pay for new infrastructure.
Opponents warned that growth controls would be bad for business.

??In Las Vegas, despite infrastructure challenges, the official line remains
that growth is good.

??"As long as you can take care of the social problems and quality of life
problems, there's never such a thing as too much growth," declares Mayor Oscar
Goodman. "Once you stop growing, you stagnate."

??And so for now, the fountains flow, the marquees shine.

??And the people keep coming.


??On the Net:

??Center for the New West: www.newwest.org/

??Sierra Club sprawl campaign: www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/population.asp

??Census stats: www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf

??Las Vegas growth topics website: 
http://www.ci.las-vegas.nv.us/hotgrowth.html
 
??Surface Transportation Policy Project: http://www.transact.org/
 
??Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy:
http://www.brook.edu/es/urban/urban.htm
 

??EDITOR'S NOTE - Pauline Arrillaga is the AP's Southwest regional writer,
based in Phoenix.

??End ADV for May 26-27




GRAPHIC: AP Photos NY372-375 of May 21, AP Graphic WESTERN GROWTH, AP

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????31 of 85 DOCUMENTS

?????????????????????????????The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: Domestic News; Business News

LENGTH: 648 words

HEADLINE: California will forecast blackouts and warn the public

BYLINE: By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO, Calif.

BODY:

??Californians will soon be waking up to the weather, the traffic - and a
blackout forecast.

??The operator of the state's electricity grid said Monday it will start
issuing forecasts 24 hours ahead of expected rolling blackouts.

??The agency also promised to give 30 minutes' warning before it orders
utilities to pull the plug on homes and businesses, a move that could prevent
traffic accidents, stuck elevators and costly shutdowns at factories.

??Up to now, the agency has refused to give more than a few minutes' warning,
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. The utilities have 
also
resisted giving warnings, saying they did not want to tip off burglars and 
other
criminals.

??"People are asking for additional notice, so we're doing our best to make
that a reality," said Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the California 
Independent System Operator.

??Californians have been warned that rolling blackouts could be a regular
feature this summer. The state's power system, crippled by a botched effort at
deregulation, has been unable to produce or buy enough electricity to power 
air
conditioners on hot days.

??The rolling blackouts move from neighborhood to neighborhood in a sequence
that is determined by the utilities and is difficult or impossible for the
public to predict. The outages last 60 to 90 minutes and then skip to another
neighborhood.

??Because of the lack of notice, the six days of rolling blackouts to hit the
state so far this year have led to pileups at intersections suddenly left
without stoplights, people trapped in elevators, and losses caused by stopped
production lines. People with home medical equipment like oxygen fret they 
that
they will be cut off without warning.

??The new plan by the ISO borrows from the language of weather forecasters:
Beginning May 30, it will issue a "power watch" or "power warning" that will
give notice the grid could be headed toward blackouts.

??The ISO will issue 30-minute warning to the media and others before any
blackouts actually begin. However, the ISO will not say what neighborhoods 
will
be hit.

??"Any time is better than none," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the
California Retailers Association. "Obviously, we'd like more, but we're
realistic about what they can do."

??Assemblyman Fred Keeley, the Legislature's point man on energy, acknowledged
that scheduling blackouts could attract criminals and open the state to legal
liability for accidents at blacked-out intersections.

??"That is a genuine problem and genuine concern," Keeley said earlier. "I
think we would have to work with local governments so they could have a
sufficient advance notice to be able to foresee that and try to deploy their
resources appropriately."

??The ISO said it also is looking into high-tech ways it can get word of an
impending blackout quickly to homeowners and businesses through mass e-mails,
faxes, automated phone calls and pager messages.

??The plan falls far short of what some consumer groups and legislators are
demanding.

??State Sen. Debra Bowen has said she envisions giving consumers three to five
days' notice that their power will be cut during a particular period, so
businesses could shut down or shift their operations to non-peak hours such as
nights and weekends.

??State Assemblyman Mike Briggs said he plans to introduce a bill that would
have the Public Utilities Commission notify businesses and homeowners as much 
as
one month ahead of time when they would have their power cut.

??"We owe the people of this state some kind of schedule," Briggs said. "If
businesses and individuals knew what days their power could potentially be 
shut
off or blacked out, they could plan for that blackout accordingly."


??On the Net:

??California Independent System Operator: http://www.caiso.com
 
LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????32 of 85 DOCUMENTS

?????????????????????????????The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 229 words

HEADLINE: Survey: Gov. Davis' ratings, public confidence take dive

BYLINE: By ALEXA HAUSSLER, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO, Calif.

BODY:

??Californians' confidence in Gov. Gray Davis and the economy has plunged in
the face of a statewide energy crisis, according to a poll released Monday.

??"This crisis and general economic uncertainty have severely undermined 
public
confidence in California's future and in its leaders," said Mark Baldassare,
director of the survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

??The institute, a nonprofit organization that researches economic, social and
political issues, interviewed 2,001 adult California residents, in English and
Spanish, between May 1 and May 9. The poll has a margin of error of plus or
minus 2 percentage points.

??Forty-six percent said they approve of the way the Democratic governor is
handling his job, down from 66 percent in September.

??And for the first time since the mid-1990s, more of the state's residents -
48 percent - believe that California is headed in the wrong direction.
Forty-four percent believe it is on the right track.

??The poll also found that Californians blame the electric utility companies
more than anyone else for the energy crunch. Thirty-two percent said they 
fault
utilities, while 26 percent blame former Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature,
10 percent blame Davis and the current Legislature and 10 percent blame power
generators.


??On the Net:

??Public Policy Institute of California: www.ppic.org

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????33 of 85 DOCUMENTS

???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 720 words

HEADLINE: Grid officials, others studying planned blackouts

BYLINE: By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SACRAMENTO

BODY:

??Could Californians be waking up to hear a weather report, a pollen count and
an electricity blackout forecast?

??It's not out of the question, say some lawmakers.

??"I actually think it's a thoughtful plan ... to give folks an opportunity to
understand the likelihood of blackouts on a daily basis," Assemblyman Fred
Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, the Assembly's point man on energy.

??Keeley compared it to "weather forecasting, to be able to look at the next
three or four days, have a percentile about the likelihood of blackouts."

??The Independent System Operator, keeper of the state's power grid, is
expected to release a report Monday detailing how such a plan would work.

??The idea is "to provide a lot of information so people can make choices to
live with blackouts on a temporary basis this summer," Keeley said.

??Peter Navarro, a University of California, Irvine, economics professor,
released a report last month with a consumer group that recommends the state 
set
a price limit on what they'll pay for power. And if generators don't lower the
price, the state should schedule blackouts to cut consumption, he said.

??The report by Navarro and the Utility Consumers' Action Network says the
state's current method of "highly disruptive random rolling blackouts" needs 
to
be revamped.

??UCAN suggests that the state be divided into blackout zones that utilities
could notify ahead of time that power would be cut at a specific time and for 
a
certain duration.

??Scheduling blackouts could attract criminals to outage areas, Keeley
acknowledged, and possibly could subject the state to legal liability for
traffic accidents or other incidents if power is deliberately shut off.

??"That is a genuine problem and genuine concern," Keeley said. "I think we
would have to work with local governments so they could have a sufficient
advance notice to be able to foresee that and try to deploy their resources
appropriately."

??Critics of the planned blackouts said power producers simply could sell 
their
unused electricity to other states, or trim back production to keep supplies
short.

??Assemblyman Mike Briggs, R-Fresno, plans to introduce a bill this week that
would have the Public Utilities Commission notify businesses and homeowners as
much as one month ahead of time when they would have their power cut.

??"We owe the people of this state some kind of schedule," Briggs said. "If
businesses and individuals knew what days their power could potentially be 
shut
off or blacked out, they could plan for that blackout accordingly."

??The Central Valley Republican said the ability to plan for outages would be
especially benefit farmers, who need power to irrigate their crops.

??Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, who convened a special subcommittee on
blackouts, has also suggested the state should consider scheduling daily
blackouts to cut the state's power use and drive down prices. Democratic
Assembly members plan to introduce their own version of a blackout plan.

??Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, has said she envisions giving consumers
three to five days notice that their power will be cut during a particular
period, so businesses could opt to shut down or shift their operations to
nonpeak hours such as nights and weekends.

??And by treating blackouts as a first option rather than a last resort, the
state could cut its peak power needs and drive down prices, Bowen said.
California power consumers would in essence form "a reverse cartel to stop the
market manipulation and the price gouging," she said.

??The planned blackout suggestions come as state officials grow increasingly
concerned that power prices will keep rising this summer, even beyond the
extraordinary levels the state already has been paying on behalf of three
cash-strapped privately owned utilities.

??Gov. Gray Davis said the state paid $1,900 per megawatt hour at one point
last week.

??The state has dedicated $6.7 billion since mid-January to purchase power for
Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and
Electric. 

??Those expenditures will be repaid this summer when the state issues $13.4
billion in revenue bonds. The bonds will be repaid by ratepayers over 15 
years.



??---

??On the Net:

??California Independent System Operator: http://www.caiso.com/
 
LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 901 words

HEADLINE: 'Baseline' becoming key word for electric customers

BYLINE: By KAREN GAUDETTE, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO

BODY:

??A little calculation on electric bills is fast becoming a big concern for
millions of residential customers of California's two largest utilities.

??Sitting near the top of Southern California Edison electric bills, and near
the bottom of the last page of Pacific Gas and Electric bills, is a number
called baseline, which guarantees a certain amount of electricity at the 
lowest
price utilities charge.

??This number, which differs from customer to customer based on a host of
factors, is the benchmark for determining how much more residents will pay for
electricity come June - when the largest rate hikes in California history 
start
showing up on bills.

??"Now with deregulation and prices being so much higher, it's going to 
require
that people educate themselves about their bills the same way they had to do
when long distance telephone service was deregulated," said Commissioner Carl
Wood of the Public Utilities Commission.

??Under a rate-hike allocation plan approved Tuesday by the PUC, everyone who
exceeds baseline by more than 30 percent will pay progressively more for that
additional electricity - with the heaviest residential users facing a 37 
percent
average hike on their overall bill, translating to an increase of roughly $85 
a
month.

??State law ensures that residential customers who don't use more than 30
percent above baseline will not face the rate hikes. The PUC figures around 
half
of PG&E and Edison customers now fall into that category.

??But consumer rights groups, and even the utilities, think the PUC is
underestimating residential electric use, given the recent proliferation of 
home
computers, cell phone chargers and the like.

??They think baseline is set too low for many customers, and say families and
people who work at home will pay more than their fair share of the rate hikes.

??"It's an anti-family action. People with kids have a hard time staying 
within
baseline," said Mike Florio, senior attorney with The Utility Reform Network. 
"A
rate hike of 30 to 40 percent could be 100 percent for people with large
households."

??Since 1982, when lawmakers created baseline - given in cents per kilowatt
hour per month - to ensure a minimum amount of affordable power and encourage
conservation, the PUC has determined baseline by dividing the state into
climatic and geographic regions.

??PG&E has 10 such regions within its service territory in northern and 
central
California; Edison has six in central and southern California. 

??The PUC then finds the average amount of electricity use for customers 
within
each region. The baseline quantity is 50 percent to 60 percent of that amount,
and up to 70 percent of that amount during the winter months if a customer 
uses
only one type of energy (electricity or natural gas).

??Customers who depend on electronic medical equipment such as suction,
breathing and dialysis machines, can apply for a slightly higher baseline.

??A family living in the scorching hot Coachella Valley would have a larger
allotment of lower-priced electricity than a family living in breezy Monterey,
given that air conditioning for the former is necessary to survival.

??Since baseline is based on averages, a single apartment dweller and a family
of four who live in the same region could have the same baseline. That makes 
it
more likely for the family to get hit with rate hikes and less likely,
economists fear, that the apartment dweller has a financial incentive to
conserve.

??"Where it is imperfect is that it has no ability to make any adjustments for
the size of the family," said John Nelson, a PG&E spokesman.

??Focusing baseline on household size gets complicated, Florio said. "Does 
PG&E
come by and do bed checks?"

??Along with raising $5.7 billion to replenish the state's general fund for
power buys since January, the rate hikes approved March 27 by the PUC and
allocated on Tuesday were also meant to trigger conservation that could help
avoid rolling blackouts this summer.

??Baseline has not been reassessed since the early 1990s. PUC president 
Loretta
Lynch and fellow commissioner Wood say they may hold hearings as early as this
coming week on possible inequities and ways to update the system.

??"There was plenty of testimony at public hearings that people suspect that
baselines are not appropriate or are not calculated right," Wood said.

??Wood said when baseline first was created nearly 20 years ago, houses were
smaller and many lacked central air conditioning.

??Though the PUC has updated baseline amounts through the years, "living
standards have changed, housing standards have changed and it may be that
average usage is different from what it was," Wood said.

??Florio said giving baselines a second look could go either way for 
consumers.
There are typically more electronic gadgets in homes these days, but many of
those gadgets and appliances are more energy efficient than their ancestors.

??Add that to increased conservation statewide, Florio said, and there's a 
slim
chance baselines could actually go down and expose more customers to rate 
hikes.

??"It's a percentage of average use historically, and people have used energy
more efficiently," through the years, Florio said.

??---


??On the Net:

??California Public Utilities Commission: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov
 
??Pacific Gas and Electric Co.: http://www.pge.com
 
??Southern California Edison Co.: http://www.sce.com
 
LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 273 words

HEADLINE: New poll suggests Californians haven't been this gloomy for years

DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO

BODY:

??Not since the mid-'90s have more Californians believed the state is headed 
in
the wrong direction.

??And it may get worse. ?Nearly 60 percent of state residents expect the
economy to worsen in the next year, while about 40 percent see a brighter
horizon, according to a new poll.

??The telephone survey of 2,001 adult Californians was done over eight days in
early May by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. The poll 
was
conducted in English and Spanish.

??The twin culprits were the souring economy and the electricity crisis.

??"Californians clearly see the electricity crisis as a harbinger of other
growth-related problems," said Mark Baldassare, the research institute's 
survey
director. "This crisis and general economic uncertainty have severely 
undermined
public confidence in California's future and in its leaders."

??Change has come swiftly.

??In January, 62 percent of state residents said California was headed in the
right direction, compared to 48 percent this month.

??Other key findings include:

??-82 percent of respondents said population growth over the next 20 years 
will
make California a less desirable place to live.

??-86 percent of respondents said the electricity crisis will hurt the state's
economy.

??-43 percent of respondents favor building more power plants, up from 32
percent in January. The second most popular solution, re-regulating the
electricity industry, was the favored solution in January.

??-Traffic congestion, affordable housing, air pollution and a shortage of 
good
jobs top the list of negative consequences respondents foresee from the 
state's
population growth.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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???????????????????The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. ?These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 2497 words

BODY:
By The Associated Press

??Excerpts from recent editorials in Iowa newspapers:



??Energy:

??DES MOINES REGISTER:

??Does it seem ironic that an Iowa "energy crisis" just happened to come at a
time when power companies are pushing state lawmakers to relax the rules for
building power generating plants?

??With three power plants down for repairs last week when temperatures spiked,
large customers in eastern Iowa were notified their electricity would be cut
off. Headlines proclaimed a "crisis," and legislative leaders shifted into an 
"I
told you so" mode.

??Hold the phone.

??This is not California. There is no crisis. Customers with interruptible
service contracts have always been subject to cutoffs in times of peak
consumption or when generators are down.

??It may not be fair to suggest that Alliant Energy chose to idle three of its
biggest generators to make the case for changing the law, but the timing is
nonetheless convenient. The Legislature is set to convene a special session 
in a
few weeks, and among the business left over from the regular session could be 
a
bill to make it easier for power companies to build electric generating 
plants.

??While crisis is not imminent, Iowa does face the prospect of consuming more
electricity than the state's utilities are able to generate themselves. ...

??While Iowa's law may need some "streamlining," which could be dealt with in 
a
special session, that should not be the end of the matter. Ultimately, the
Legislature must fashion a long-range energy policy for this state that takes 
a
regional view of energy, that reflects new market and regulation realities, 
and
that seizes the potential for conservation and renewable alternatives to 
fossil
fuels.



??Legislative session:

??TELEGRAPH HERALD

??Even after a marathon legislative session - this one lasted 121 days - why
does it always seem the big-ticket items are pushed through in the final days?

??This year's session started out strong, passing a bill to save taxpayers
money by eliminating the sales tax on residential utility bills. It finished 
up
by coming through with $40 million for teachers' pay.

??But just what happened in those middle 100 or so days is a little murky.
There was plenty of hand-wringing about the budget shortfall, the usual banter
about dove hunting and a fair amount of partisan bickering. ...

??-Legislators didn't get around to a ... bill to close a loophole in Iowa's
Open Records law. The way it stands now, a governmental body can use a private
contractor to investigate problems within the department and keep that
contractor's report confidential under the law's whistle-blower provision. ...

??-The Legislature didn't want to get into a full-blown gambling debate, so it
didn't address a tax freeze at racetracks. ... The issue of fairness needs to 
be
addressed.

??Floating casinos pay a 20 percent tax, while racetracks pay a gradually
increasing tax that now stands at 30 percent. Under the law enacted in 1997,
that tax will grow to 36 percent by 2004.

??-Other things that legislators talked about but didn't get around to 
include:
cutting state income tax on Social Security income and a pair of bills
addressing the state's bottle-deposit law.

??So the 2002 Legislature will have its work cut out for it. Here are some 
jobs
for next year's to-do list:

??-Amend the Open Records Law. Allowing agencies to keep information about
government activities secret simply because it is in the possession of an
outside contractor is a hole in the law that needs to be fixed.

??-Carry the ball on increasing teachers' pay. The $40 million shot in the arm
will have been a waste if the program is left hanging unfunded.

??-Freeze the amount of tax racetracks pay where it stands and stop the
hemorrhaging of dollars into state coffers. The disparity between racetracks 
and
riverboat casinos needs to be righted.

??And if they're worried that the discussion will draw an all-out gambling
debate, lawmakers might want to bring it to the table before May.



??IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN:

??We agree with Gov. Tom Vilsack that the new state budget approved by
legislators "will cause hardship for people and families across our state."

??That's what happens when you face a $300 million revenue shortfall, and you
don't have as much money as you wanted.

??But we disagree that "for 3 1/2 months, they did very little."

??On the contrary, Vilsack got what he said all along would be the high mark 
of
this session - $40 million for teacher pay raises and a new system for teacher
pay.

??And the Republican-led Legislature also agreed to phase out the sales tax on
utilities, long a goal of Vilsack's Democratic Party.

??Are we happy with the budget? No.

??Is it the best we likely can do under the circumstances? Yes.

??Vilsack should sign budget legislation, rather than vetoing it and calling a
special session of the Legislature this summer. ...



??Plant Sciences Institute:

??DES MOINES REGISTER:

??Iowa needs more people, especially young people. Iowa needs more jobs that
pay well - the kinds of jobs that cause other businesses, small and large, to
spring up here. So why did Iowa lawmakers blow the single best opportunity for
both?

??They blame it on a tight budget. Blame them for failing to grasp the big
picture. The fledgling Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University could
become a major force in the fast-growing field of biotechnology related to
agriculture - yet the 2001 Legislature provided no new money.

??It did continue the $4.67 million approved in 2000. It did not add $3
million, a meager increase proposed by the governor. It allowed ISU to keep
money from the sale of land, with proceeds to be used for the institute's Roy 
J.
Carver Co-Laboratory, to be completed by 2002. It should have added at least 
$10
million in cash. ...

??Because of legislative inaction, promising initiatives must slow down, or 
may
never take place. ...

??The institute had hoped to hire another top researcher in the field of corn
genomics ...

??Ag-biotech companies have been appealing to the state for help putting
together a protein-extraction facility ... Such a facility might extract 
protein
from conventional or genetically modified plants for such uses as
pharmaceuticals, food additives or chemical enzymes for industrial processes.
The Plant Sciences Institute has a small, pilot protein-extraction facility. 
New
money from the Legislature would have allowed it to assist businesses in
establishing a commercial facility. But now? "The people interested in this 
will
probably go elsewhere," said Director Stephen Howell.

??Why wouldn't they? Plenty of other states are serious about fostering 
biotech
industries. The Iowa commitment is hardly encouraging. ...

??Iowa has a budget crunch because its economy and population are not growing
fast enough. Investing in biotechnology - the technology that is expected to
drive the next great wave of economic growth - is the most promising way to 
make
Iowa's economy and population grow. Stinting on that investment is stunningly
shortsighted.

??Ten million dollars next session should not be out of the question. The
question should be what sort of future will Iowa have if it does not make the
most of the potential the Plant Sciences Institute holds.



??Hunting requirements:

??AMES TRIBUNE:

??In April, the Iowa House and Senate rejected a measure that would have
required wild turkey hunters to report their harvest to the Department of
Natural Resources, saying it was "just another hassle," for hunters.

??Then, the House hiked the fees for hunting licenses, in some cases up to 218
percent. A non-resident who wants to hunt deer in Iowa under this plan will 
have
to shell out $308, including a hunting license and habitat fee. The current
total is $156.

??Hassle? You got it. We might as well hang a sign on Iowa borders that says 
we
don't much care about managing our wildlife and we don't want you here, 
either.
Add to the mix a federal whammy in the Freedom to Farm Act, which has all but
eliminated any fence rows, and hunting as a potential tourism draw to Iowa 
blows
away in the wind. ...

??Instead of having accurate information on how much hunting is affecting
turkey populations, Department of Natural Resources wildlife managers are now
left to guess. ...

??Surrounding states which capitalize on their resources require even more
harvest registration, and it hasn't slowed interest. ...

??The DNR asked for the fee increases for good reasons - license fees have not
increased for a decade while the costs of salaries, travel and equipment have
begun to eat into funds available for facilities and land acquisition. And 
we're
in favor of using fees to support wildlife management.

??We also would allow that some of the increases do not seem to us to be
egregious. A $3 fish habitat fee for instance, isn't a great deal to pay. Nor 
is
a $30 tab for a non-resident 7-day fishing license out of line.

??But some fee hikes were too much.

??In particular, the non-resident fees for deer hunting are high especially in
comparison to surrounding states, and are more than most ordinary people are
likely to pay. Wisconsin charges non-residents $135 to hunt deer. Missouri
charges $125. License fees in Iowa are likely to result in less money coming 
in,
not more. What out-of-state hunter will be drawn to Iowa when surrounding 
states
are managing their herds better and charging less to visit?

??Iowa worries that the farm economy is in the tank. We wring our hands as our
young people rush to other parts of the country. We say that our natural
resources here can be an attraction that will draw people back. Yet these 
votes
run counter to sound wildlife management and increased tourism.



??Public official recruits:

??QUAD-CITY TIMES:

??More Iowa school districts and local governments are using professional
companies to help find high-level administrators such as superintendents, but
that recruiting tool is making the process less accountable to the public.

??In effect, it allows private firms to dictate public policy, and that's
troubling.

??One example of this trend is the Camanche School District, where six
finalists for the superintendents job were in town for interviews recently. 
They
met with school board members, district staff and some residents, yet the 
board
does not intend to reveal the names of the candidates. The Cedar Rapids
headhunter firm that has contracted with the district advised the school board
not to announce the names.

??Headhunters also are advising candidates to request their names be kept
confidential. Under Iowa law, a public entity such as a school board must 
honor
such a request.

??Some public officials justify this secrecy by arguing that finalists don't
want the public to know if they didn't get the job offer or worry that
identification may jeopardize their current position. ...

??Those arguments aren't justified, for reasons including:

??-There is nothing dishonorable in not being chosen for a top-level post.
Indeed, being considered a finalist for such a job may serve only to enhance a
candidates attractiveness for another position ...

??-Identifying the finalists for the public also allows citizens to ask
questions and provide other information, critical or supportive, that could be
useful in helping officials make a final choice.

??-And being upfront with the public lends credibility to the entire process
...

??We prefer a process similar to one used by the City of Clinton during its
recent search for a city administrator. The five finalists were not only
identified, they took part in an open house to meet the public. A headhunter
firm was used, but City Attorney Bruce Johansen, himself a candidate who did 
not
get the job, said he made it clear to the agency that the finalists names 
should
be made public.

??We applaud that effort ...

??Meanwhile, the Iowa Legislature this spring modified a state law that has
been the basis of confidentiality claims for candidates seeking public
positions. The change would require that official communication between 
private
contractors and the public entities they serve be open to public inspection.
Whether that law will be interpreted to include headhunter firms remains to be
seen. ...

??We encourage school boards and local governments to resist confidentiality
and test the new law when it takes effect July 1.



??Train service:

??CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE:

??Who'd have thought that the selection of the secretary of the federal
Department of Human Services last winter might affect whether Davenport, Iowa
City and Des Moines get rail service.

??But consider that HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, who resigned recently from
the Amtrak board, had been a strong advocate of expanded rail service here in
the Midwest while he was governor of Wisconsin. Thompson had hoped to remain
chairman of the Amtrak board after he went to Washington. But the Associated
Press reports that a 1997 law that restructured the Amtrak board says only one
of the seven seats can be held by a member of the Cabinet - and the Bush
administration wants Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on the governing
board.

??Few people around are as passionate as Thompson about Amtrak, and Iowa could
have benefited. It's hard to ride a national passenger train service that
doesn't go where the majority of Iowans live. Maybe the service will be 
expanded
here. But maybe, with the changes in the governing board, that train has 
already
left the station.



??Smoker identification:

??LE MARS DAILY SENTINAL:

??Have you heard the news from Walgreen's? They're going to card everybody who
wants to buy a package of cigarettes, a box of cigars, a can of chew.

??Everybody. Not under 18. Not 27 and under. Everybody. ...

??That can't have been an easy decision. Within a year, they're looking at
software that will require clerk's to enter a customer's birth date into a
computer before a tobacco sale can be completed. Until then, they're asking
their clerks to card everybody. Good for them. ...

??Yes, it will take a little extra time ... Evidently, the owners/corporate
bigwigs think the time is well spent if it eliminates the fines and bad
publicity.

??A convenience store association spokesman told reporters that other stores
are likely to duplicate Walgreen's efforts. Yes. We certainly hope so.

??We all have heard terrible numbers of deaths caused by tobacco, of underage
users ... Many, if not most of us, know someone who hacks and coughs, who died
from smoking, who cries because someone died from smoking. When you think of
them, it doesn't seem so outrageous to card everyone. It seems downright
brilliant. ...

??It won't stop it entirely. Young wanna-be-smokers will have somebody older 
do
the buying, or swipe a carton. There will always be a way to get around it,
there always is.

??Still, carding everyone says, "This is important, we mean it and we're not
going to make it easy for you."

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

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Content and programming copyright 2001 CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video, a 
division
??of CNBC/Dow Jones Desktop Video, LLC. No portions of the materials contained
?herein may be used in any media without attribution to CNBC/Dow Jones 
Business
Video, a division of CNBC/Dow Jones Desktop Video, LLC. ?This transcript may 
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???????????????????????be copied or resold in any media.

???????????????????????CNBC/Dow Jones - Business Video

?????????????????????SHOW: CNBC/DOW JONES BUSINESS VIDEO

?????????????????????????????May 21, 2001, Monday

??????????????????????????Transcript # 052100cb.y50

TYPE: INTERVIEW

SECTION: Business

LENGTH: 807 words

HEADLINE: PG&E Chairman & CEO - Interview

GUESTS: Robert Glynn

BYLINE: Mark Haines, Joe Battipaglia

BODY: ?THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND 
MAY
BE UPDATED.

MARK HAINES, CNBC ANCHOR, SQUAWK BOX: One company that is hurting a lot in all
this is PG&E, the parent of Pacific Gas and Electric. They filed for Chapter 
11
bankruptcy in April. PG&E has about $9 billion in unrecovered power costs. A
California bankruptcy judge says the company cannot raise retail rates to 
recoup
those losses. The stock is on a steep decline this year, trading in the 52 
week
range of 6 to 32, last at about 11 1/2.

Joining us to tell us where things are now and where they could be going,
Robert Glynn, PG&E's Chairman and CEO. Mr. Glynn, good to see you again.

ROBERT GLYNN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, PG&E: Good morning, Mark.

HAINES: So where do we stand now?

GLYNN: Well, we're working our way through the federal bankruptcy proceeding,
where we affirmatively stepped in order to resolve issues between ourselves 
and
our creditors. We have a plan of reorganization under development and we're
getting close to the time when we can begin to share that plan with the
creditors who, after all, need to get paid.

HAINES: So let's first talk about time. How much time do you think this might
take before PG&E emerges from bankruptcy?

GLYNN: Well, it's very hard to tell for one reason. There have not been very
many utility bankruptcies and I don't know of any that has had these
complexities to it. The shortest possible time or shortest likely time that 
I've
heard about has been six to eight months and that's probably shorter than it
will take. The longest that I've heard about is about four years and that's an
awful lot longer than I want it to take.

HAINES: In the meantime you are selling electricity, transmitting and selling
electricity on a retail level. Are you still losing money on your operating?

GLYNN: Well, the potential area for continuing loss exposure is the issue of
whether the California independent system operator is still buying on behalf 
of
our company instead of buying directly on behalf of our customers. And that's 
an
issue that's before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for decision 
making
right now.

HAINES: Well, I guess my question is who is paying the bills right now?

GLYNN: Well, the electric rates in California have just been raised by the
California Public Utilities Commission in order to have the state, the
Department of Water Resources be able to recover all of its costs because 
that's
what, of course, it wants to do. It doesn't want to go any deeper in debt than
it has to. So this most recent large rate increase has applied, as best as we
can tell, exclusively to cover the state's cost increases and not to cover 
some
of the ones that we're responsible for.

JOE BATTIPAGLIA: Mr. Glynn, the brownouts continue in California. What's the
status of supply of electricity into the state, putting aside for a moment how
you pay for it?

GLYNN: Well, the California electricity crisis at its heart is a supply
shortage and the outlook for this summer and next summer are pretty bleak. 
Every
responsible entity that has reviewed the situation is forecasting that there
will be a large number of rolling blackouts occurring over the summer of 2001
and probably 2002 as well, simply because there's not enough power to go 
around.

BATTIPAGLIA: Does that spread from California to other states as the draw down
becomes perilous?

GLYNN: Well, the California electricity market and the Pacific Northwest
markets have had a very nice symbiotic relationship over many, many years
shipping power back and forth to one another. That has been interrupted 
because
of the supply shortage in California, which means that California is trying to
be a net importer all the time. And it seems like the Pacific Northwest won't
have the kind of surplus energy to send south to California that it's had in 
the
past.

HAINES: Does this ultimately end with retail electricity distribution
transmission and distribution being done by a state authority and no longer by
privately held or publicly held companies?

GLYNN: I don't think it ends there at all, Mark. And I certainly don't think
that it's in the state's interest to try to get into businesses that can be 
done
by private capital when the state has so many other important things to use 
its
capital on, like education and infrastructure. And I do think that this supply
shortage has got to be resolved. It's got to be resolved by building new 
supply.
There's simply no alternative to that and that's going to take another couple 
of
years before that new construction is fully completed.

HAINES: All right, sir. Thank you very much for the update. We appreciate it.
Robber Glynn, PG&E's Chairman and CEO.

END



PG & E CORP (86%);

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2001

??????????????????????????????38 of 85 DOCUMENTS

??????????Content and programming copyright 2001 Cable News Network
???????????Transcribed under license by eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a
??????????Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.) Formatting copyright
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??????????????House, Inc.) All rights reserved. No quotes from the
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???????????attribution to Cable News Network. This transcript may not
???????????????????????be copied or resold in any media.

?????????????????????????????????????CNN

???????????????????????SHOW: CNN INSIDE POLITICS 17:00

?????????????????????????????May 21, 2001; Monday

???????????????????????????Transcript # 01052100V15

SECTION: News; Domestic

LENGTH: 7389 words

HEADLINE: ?Bush Administration Endorses Mitchell Committee's Recommendations 
for
Ending Mideast Violence

GUESTS: ?Mark Baldassare

BYLINE: ?Judy Woodruff, David Ensor, Major Garrett, William Schneider, Kelly
Wallace, Jonathan Karl, Kate Snow, Rusty Dornin, Bruce Morton

HIGHLIGHT:
?As an escalating cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians 
continued
today, Secretary of State Colin Powell appointed a diplomat to help the two
sides end the fighting and resume talks. ?He urged the parties to use the 
report
of a commission appointed by former President Clinton as a springboard to 
peace.

BODY:


??THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.

??ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS, with Judy 
Woodruff.

??Amid growing bloodshed in the Middle East, the United States endorses
recommendations aimed at ending the violence.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It is now up to the leaders in the
region to show that they have heard this clarion call from this committee in a
loud and clear way.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??ANNOUNCER: Also ahead: Is President Bush taking a hit in the polls in
connection with the energy crunch?

??And to what degree has a certain Yale graduate finally embraced his alma
mater?

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything I know about the
spoken word I learned right here at Yale.

??(LAUGHTER)

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??ANNOUNCER: Now Judy Woodruff takes you INSIDE POLITICS.

??JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us. ?We begin with the Bush
administration responding to pressure to get more involved in promoting Middle
East peace.

??As an escalating cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians
continued today, Secretary of State Colin Powell appointed a diplomat to help
the two sides end the fighting and resume talks. ?And he urged the parties to
use the report of a commission appointed by former President Clinton as a
springboard to peace.

??Let's get more now from CNN national security correspondent David Ensor --
David. DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judy, Ambassador William Burns, the 
U.S.
ambassador to Jordan, who is Mr. Powell's pick to be the next assistant
secretary for the Middle East, has been asked to work with other 
recommendations
for Mr. Powell and for President Bush on how the U.S. can best proceed from
here, trying to use the recommendations of the Mitchell committee report to 
try
to get the violence to de- escalate, to try to get the two sides talking 
instead
of shooting at each other.

??Here is how Mr. Powell put it today.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??POWELL: It is now up to the leaders in the region to show that they have
heard this clarion call from this committee in a loud-and- clear way, and take
actions that are available to them on both sides to let's have a cessation of
hostilities, then we can begin the confidence-building measures and move 
toward
negotiations.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??ENSOR: Now this report makes very specific recommendations and urges very
specific actions by both sides: in both cases, quite difficult actions. 
?First,
it calls for the Palestinians and the Israelis to declare an immediate,
unconditional cessation of violence. That's the first step, and that's the 
step
that Secretary Powell repeatedly emphasized today must come first and must 
come
right away or else nothing else will work.

??But the report goes on to make specific recommendations. ?For example, it
urges that Israel put -- freeze all settlement development, all development of
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. ?It recommends that Israel
resume paying the money that's collected in taxes back to the Palestinian
Authority. ?It recommends a whole range of action, many of them to be taken by
Israel, which the reports says would help bring the tone back to where it 
needs
to be, would help bring the two sides back to where they could once again be
negotiating instead of shooting at each other and letting off bombs.

??The -- the secretary, Secretary Powell, said that this is not the time,
however, for him to get involved in shuttle diplomacy. ?He wants first to have
Ambassador Burns and the others come up with recommendations over the next 
week,
two weeks or three, and then he and the president will try to figure out where
the U.S. can go from here.

??But clearly, this is -- clearly, this is a first step by an administration
that until now has tried to keep its -- keep its powder a bit dry in the 
Middle
East. ?They are now engaging somewhat, because they're so concerned about the
situation out there, Judy.

??WOODRUFF: David, the report, the Mitchell report, suggesting that the
Israelis more responsible here, or at least that they have more to do in order
to get things back on the peace track than the Palestinians? ENSOR: The report
is very even-handed. ?It doesn't blame either side for the situation. ?It, for
example, does not blame Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount for the
following Intifada, Intifada II it's been called. ?But it says that there 
needs
to be a series of actions by both sides to bring down the tensions, and if you
look at the list of what it's asking for, there are more steps that the 
Israelis
would have to take than the Palestinians.

??WOODRUFF: And David, why is it that the administration is saying at this
point that it is not prepared to get back in -- in a -- in a day-to-day way, 
in
an energetically involved way the way the Clinton administration was?

??ENSOR: Well, I think the administration, this administration, feels that the
Clinton people got -- got to the point where they were micromanaging the 
thing a
little bit. ?It was too much presidential involvement and it was too much of a
day-to-day hand-holding operation. ?They feel they need to hold back a little
bit and try to get the parties to talk to each other.

??However, the situation is deteriorating pretty rapidly, and so now they
realize they have to have some greater involvement. ?And that's why Ambassador
Burns has been asked to prepare these recommendation, Judy.

??WOODRUFF: All right. ?David Ensor reporting for us from the State 
Department.

??For more on the Middle East conflict, stay with us for a special half-hour
report. ?That's beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

??Now, we turn to questions about the Bush administration's political
fund-raising tactics. ?Tonight, Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to 
host
some 400 big GOP donors at his official residence in Washington. ?A 
spokeswoman
for the Democrats says that that event smacks of, in her words, hypocrisy.

??The Democrats say the reception at the vice president's home is comparable 
to
Clinton-era events, such as White House coffees and Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers
for big donors, which drew heavy criticism from Republicans. ?Among them:
presidential candidate George W. Bush.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??BUSH: I believe they've moved that sign, "The buck stops here," from the 
Oval
Office desk to the buck stops here on the Lincoln Bedroom. ?And that's not 
good
for the country, it's not right. ?We need to have a new look about how we
conduct ourselves in office. There's a huge trust. ?I see it all the time when
people come up to me and say, "I don't want you to let me down again."

??And we can do better than the past administration has done.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??WOODRUFF: Despite that sort of criticism then, the Republicans are defending
their fund-raising tactics now. ?Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had this to
say about the reception for big donors at Vice President Cheney's home 
tonight.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MAJORITY LEADER: I'm sure it's being done in an
inappropriate way, or Dick Cheney wouldn't -- wouldn't be doing it. ?So if
there's any question, I'd suggest you address it to them. ?Unfortunately, I
think that most of us will not be able to be there. ?We're going to be here
voting, giving tax relief.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??WOODRUFF: Virtually all of those GOP contributors, who will mingle with Vice
President Cheney at his home tonight, have given at least $100,000 to the
Republican National Committee. ?They will also attend a major RNC fund-raiser
tomorrow night that features President Bush as the main speaker and is 
expected
to net some $15 million in soft money.

??Now let's bring in our White House correspondent, Major Garrett.

??Major, tell us about what this event is about tomorrow night.

??MAJOR GARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the first official Republican
National Committee event to honor the president and the first lady, as you 
said.
The targeted haul is $15 million. Republican National Committee officials tell
CNN that it's about 70 percent of that 15 million will be soft money. ?About 
30
percent will be hard dollars -- that is dollars that are regulated under the
existing campaign finance scheme -- and that it is a big event, one that the
Republican Party has held for years and years in Washington.

??As for what's happening in the vice president's residence tonight, White
House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told me this is a way of saying "Thank 
you,"
in his words, "to those Republicans who," as Ari Fleischer said, "did so much 
to
help win the selection."

??And he draws a distinction with the Clinton-era coffees and sleepovers,
describing them as, quote, "organized schemes to bring people through the 
gates
of the White House to get money or to persuade others to do so."

??Mark Minor, who is the communications director for the Republican National
Committee, also said that no one paid to go to the vice president's residence.
No checks will pass between hands there. There is no quid pro quo, and that 
some
people who will be at the vice president's residence tonight are not in fact 
RNC
donors -- Judy.

??WOODRUFF: So, Major, again, clarify the distinction between money events 
that
are given as a thank you and events that are given as an encouragement to give
more money.

??GARRETT: Well, it's a distinction this White House wants to draw as clearly
as it possibly can. ?In the words of Ari Fleischer, thanking someone, whether
it's on government property or not on government property, is a completely
legitimate activity for the president or the vice president to engage in. ?The
distinction he is drawing is that during the Clinton era people were brought 
to
the White House, to these coffees, and as was disclosed in the Thompson report
that was conducted by the Senate investigating that, there was some evidence 
of
actually targeted lists: that people who were brought in, money was described 
to
bringing in for a coffee. ?A certain dollar amount was attached to donations 
to
the Democratic National Committee, a larger amount if they, in fact, slept 
here
at the White House in the Lincoln Bedroom. ?That is the key distinction, the
Republicans say: that there is no targeting necessarily of these people to 
come
to the vice president's residence.

??They also point out that the original letters inviting these big donors to
Washington did not in any way suggest there would be a reception at the vice
president's residence: the point there being these people donated without any
expectation of having dinner or reception with Lynne Cheney and Dick Cheney in
the vice president's home.

??WOODRUFF: And Major, just to clarify, the 400 people invited tonight to the
vice president's, how many are they saying did not give money?

??GARRETT: They're not disclosing any numbers. ?They're only saying that some
have given. ?They clearly and readily acknowledge that. ?Some are lobbyists.
Some represent large corporations. ?But others, they say, are just Republican
National Committee officials. And others of an undisclosed nature -- not
fund-raisers, not Republican Party officials -- who will be there tonight.
Don't have any numbers for you on that, though.

??WOODRUFF: All right, Major Garrett reporting at the White House. Thank you
very much.

??Vice President Cheney maybe taking some heat for fund-raising tactics, not 
to
mention his role in creating the Bush energy plan. Look that this:

??Our new poll shows Cheney's job approval rating is 4 points higher than the
presidents. ?While Mr. Bush's approval rating has held pretty steady in the 
past
couple of weeks, he has lost ground since late April. ?Cheney's approval 
rating
has dipped as well.

??For more on Mr. Bush's ratings and how they relate to his policies, we are
joined now by our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

??Tell us, Bill, which of Mr. Bush's policies is the most popular?

??WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you might guess
energy, given the high ratings for Dick Cheney that you just reported -- but 
you
would be wrong.

??Because, what Americans like best is the tax cut. ?Two thirds of the public
now favors a substantial tax cut. ?That's up from 60 percent earlier this 
month.
Well, why not? ?What's wrong with getting some money back from the government?

??Actually, most people do not think the tax cut could benefit them much
financially. ?They like it because they believe it will help the economy. ?And
that is why so many Democrats find it very difficult to oppose.

??WOODRUFF: What about the energy plan?

??SCHNEIDER: Not such a success. ?Not like the tax cut. ?Americans are 
actually
divided over the president's energy plan. ?Why? ?It's not because the public
blames the Bush administration for the nation's energy problems. ?Most people
blame the oil companies.

??In fact, more people blame Congress and the Clinton administration and
environmental laws and American consumers than blame the Bush administration.
But most Americans still give President Bush low marks on energy. ?The core
criticism of his energy plan is: it doesn't do enough. ?55 percent of 
Americans
say President Bush is not doing enough to solve the country's energy problems.

??What doesn't the plan do? ?It doesn't do much right now. ?Only 8 percent of
Americans believe the plan will help the nation's energy problem immediately.
Most people think oh, it will help, but only after several years. ?It's a
long-run solution. ?Americans want help now. ?Right now. ?With electricity in
California. ?And with gas prices all over the country. ?Long-term solutions 
are
important, but politics is a short-term business. ?If the problem is now, 
people
want results now.

??And they don't see what the Bush energy plan is going to do about 
$2-a-gallon
gasoline now.

??WOODRUFF: Why do people think the energy plan fails to do that?

??SCHNEIDER: Because they think this administration is run by oilmen. ?Oilmen
like $2-a-gallon gasoline. ?Maybe even 3.

??By nearly two to one, the public believes energy companies have too much
influence over the Bush administration's policies. ?In fact, Americans are 
split
when you ask them whether the Bush energy plan is designed to further the
country's interests or the energy companies' interests. ?That sounds like
breathtaking cynicism. ?But any administration that's run by Texas oilmen is
automatically suspect.

??WOODRUFF: All right, Bill Schneider, thank you very much. You're not 
suspect.

??SCHNEIDER: I am certainly not.

??WOODRUFF: At least as far as we know.

??Do Californians blame President Bush for their energy crisis? We've heard a
little bit from Bill on that. ?That answer and more on the issue later this
hour. ?Plus:

??Just what kind of tax cut is the Senate considering? ?Jonathan Karl crunches
the numbers. ?Also:

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no ability to bring up the amendments. ?You don't
set the agenda every day, and that is real power in the House.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??WOODRUFF: The trials and tribulations of the minority leader, as he 
considers
the present and the future. ?And later:

??Rewarding a president's most controversial decision. ?A political "Profile 
In
Courage." All ahead on INSIDE POLITICS.

??(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

??WOODRUFF: President Bush today donned the traditional commencement robes, 
and
gave the graduating class at Yale University a few bits of advice. ?The
president also included a glimpse at his less-than-perfect college years. ?As
CNN's Kelly Wallace reports, today's speech was a departure from how the
President's dealt with his alma mater in the past.

??(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

??KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A homecoming of
sorts, George W. Bush who has only been back to his alma mater once since
graduating in 1968, returns to address those at the top and the bottom of 
Yale's
graduating class.

??BUSH: And to the C students...

??(LAUGHTER)

??I say, you too, can be president of the United States.

??(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

??WALLACE: The president offering a self-deprecating account of his days as 
the
undergraduate, when, as a history major, he earned modest grades and was known
more as a fraternity boy prankster than a rising political star.

??The visit was not without controversy, with some students protesting and 
some
professors boycotting, charging that Mr. Bush was not yet deserving of an
honorary degree.

??PETER BROOKS, YALE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: It doesn't seem at present to
represent the intellectual ideals and the service to humanity in which we 
think
that Yale stands for.

??WALLACE: The president has kept his distance from this Ivy League 
institution
for most of his political life, painting it as a symbol of elitism, even 
during
his days at Yale. TERRY JOHNSON, BUSH'S YALE ROOMMATE: What George -- does not
respond well to are people who are snobs, whether you are a social snob or an
intellectual snob or any other kind of snob.

??WALLACE: Mr. Bush rarely mentions what he did on this day, that he was born
in New Haven when his dad, the former president, was an undergraduate at Yale.

??BUSH: My life began just a few blocks from here, but I was raised in West
Texas. ?From there, Yale always seemed a world away.

??WALLACE: The president, for years, had been miffed with Yale for not 
awarding
an honorary degree to his dad until 1991, the third year of his presidency. 
?But
it appears now, all is forgiven.

??BUSH: In my time they spoke of the Yale man, I was really never sure of what
that was. ?But I do think that I am a better man because of Yale.

??WALLACE: Mr. Bush, the son and grandson of Yalies and now father of a 
current
student, seems very proud that Yale is a part of his past.

??Kelly Wallace, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.

??(END VIDEOTAPE)

??WOODRUFF: And looking now ahead to 2004: the Reverend Al Sharpton says that
he will explore seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. ?The civil
rights activist said yesterday that the party did not protect the rights of
disenfranchised voters in Florida in the last presidential race.

??If he runs, Sharpton said that he would promote issues that concern blacks
and progressives, and his effort would not be just symbolic. ?Sharpton ran
unsuccessfully for the Senate in New York in 1994 and for mayor of New York 
City
in 1997.

??Reverend Sharpton and former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer
will discuss President Bush's faith-based plan to help the poor tonight on
"CROSSFIRE." That's at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

??Another note from New York: a state supreme court justice today barred Rudy
Giuliani's girlfriend from the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion. 
?The
judge ruled in favor of Giuliani's estranged wife, Donna Hanover, who had
requested a restraining order barring Judith Nathan from the residence. ?The
ruling says that Nathan may not enter the residence as long as the Giuliani
children continue to live there. ?The judge also denied Giuliani's second
attempt for a gag order in the couple's divorce proceedings.

??And we'll have the latest on President Bush's tax cut when we come back.

??(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WOODRUFF: This evening, the Senate is expected to vote on
the latest version of the now $1.35 trillion tax cut plan. ?Republican leaders
hope to give President Bush the tax cut for approval before Memorial Day. ?But
as Jonathan Karl reports, taxpayers will have a longer wait before reaping any
of the measure's benefits.

??(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

??JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Senate's
$1.35 trillion tax cut would be the biggest in a generation, but don't spend
your tax windfall yet. ?Most of the cuts will not take effect for several 
years
to come.

??Relief from the so-called major penalty will not start until the year 2005.
The estate tax won't be repealed until 2011. ?That means even if President 
Bush
is re-elected, it wouldn't take effect until two years after he completed his
second term. ?The IRA contribution limit would be raised from $2,000 to 
$5,000,
but that also wouldn't happen until the year 2011.

??The tax cut calls for doubling of the child tax credit, but that takes 10
years too. ?The credit would rise from $500 to $600 this year, slowly 
increasing
in $100 increments over the next 10 years until it finally reaches $1,000 in 
the
year 2011. ?The cuts in income tax rates would be phased in even more slowly.

??SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R-IA), FINANCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You are right, 
some
of them do not -- are phased in over a period of time. But there is real 
relief
in this tax bill for every taxpayer starting January 1, 2001. ?They don't have
to wait until next year.

??KARL: That immediate tax relief amounts to $300 for individuals and $600 for
couples filing jointly, but just how that money gets back to taxpayers is 
still
to be worked out. ?The option favored by the president is a simple rebate 
check
sent directly to taxpayers, an idea opposed by many Senate Republicans who 
call
it impractical.

??But the rebate would represent a fraction of the overall tax cut, which
Democratic opponents say will explode in cost after it's fully phased in two
years from now.

??SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: This plan is fully back- loaded. ?That
means simply that it is disguised in terms of its full cost. ?This decade it
cost $1.35 trillion. ?In the next decade, it will cost from 3.5 to $4 
trillion.

??KARL: But there's a little noticed provision of this tax cut that may make
that point moot. ?The tax cut includes a sunset provision, that means all the
tax cuts in the bill would expire in the year 2012. ?For the tax cuts to 
remain
in place, Congress would have to pass them again.

??(END VIDEOTAPE)

??KARL: Now, the Senate is expected to vote on a series of amendments to the
tax cut later on today, paving the way for a final vote on the tax cut here in
the Senate tonight. ?But it will not end there. ?This still needs to be
reconciled with the tax cut that was passed in House, the House passing almost
exactly the president's tax cut, including much deeper cuts in income tax 
rates
preferred by Republicans.

??The Senate and the House will have to work out their differences. They're
expected to do so this week, setting the stage to send this final tax cut down
Pennsylvania Avenue and onto the president's desk by Memorial Day -- Judy.

??WOODRUFF: Jon, when you talk about the plan providing 300 or $300 a year per
individual, divided by 12, that's $20-some a month. Is this the kind of money
the president was talking about when he said the tax cut would help people 
with
higher gasoline prices?

??KARL: This was exactly what he had it mind. ?This was exactly what he was
talking about, directing the money right into the hands of taxpayers, directly
into the hands of those people paying higher gasoline prices at the pumps.

??This is an idea that his Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, strongly favors,
the idea of direct cash payments or check payments to taxpayers. ?But one big
problem with this, Judy, is that taxpayers over the course of time move, they
change addresses, some of them die. The question is, how do you make sure you
get all the right checks to those people at current addresses? ?It's not an 
easy
proposition.

??WOODRUFF: And Jon, one other subject, we know the president's nominee to be
solicitor general of the United States has run into a real problem in the 
Senate
committee. ?Where does that stand right now? ?The last we heard, the Senate
Judiciary had split 9-9 on the nomination of Ted Olson.

??KARL: Well, the Senate leaders, Trent Lott and Tom Daschle, are now actively
involved in this, trying to come to some kind of an agreement, an agreement 
that
will allow the Democrats to get access to some information they want about
Olson, especially information that was compiled by independent council Robert
Ray, looking to just what Olson's involvement was in that Arkansas Project by
the "American Spectator" magazine, the investigation into Bill Clinton's
personal life.

??They want information from the independent council to look at just how
involved Olson was in that project, to see whether or not he was truthful in 
his
testimony when he said he was not very involved at all. ?There's some movement
to try to get the Democrats on the committee more of the information, also 
maybe
to release more of it to the public.

??If that's all done, it would set the stage for a vote on the Olson 
nomination
before the full Senate, but probably not until after Memorial Day. ?The Senate
goes on recess at the end of the week, they will be off all of next week, you
probably won't see a vote on the Olson nomination until after they return.

??WOODRUFF: All right, Jon Karl at the Capitol, thanks. In the House of
Representatives, Democrats are finding themselves drowned out by the 
Republican
majority. ?Add to that, critics who say the party is lacking leadership and
strategy. ?And life in the House minority begins to look bleak. ?Our Kate Snow
caught up with the House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt to talk about the 
balance
of power and his political future.

??(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

??REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We need to say what are we
for, and that's what...

??KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dick Gephardt will
tell you it's frustrating being a Democrat these days, stuck in the minority
without the backing of the White House.

??GEPHARDT: Well, you take what you -- what you are given. ?I mean, the people
run this country. ?We don't. ?And so, you fight for what you believe in as 
hard
as you can, and if you really believe in it, then you're frustrated if you're
not able to those policies through.

??SNOW: Gephardt says the Democrats are forced to play defense, responding to
Republicans.

??GEPHARDT: I think we slowed down a little bit the amount of the tax bill --
not enough, in my view -- but we lowered it some so that the potential 
deficits
out there in the future won't be so large. ?I think we cooperated with the
president on the educational bill, at least the substance of it, but we still
haven't been able to convince him or the Republicans to put enough money into
education to really make the program happen.

??On energy, I think that we've got a very, very positive alternative that I
hope people will listen to. ?People in California and Oregon and Washington 
need
help now.

??SNOW: That was last week's theme. ?First at a gas station, the lawn of the
Capitol the next day, and then in a underground war room.

??Gephardt is a master at staying on message, often spending hours talking to
the press, his strategy: agree with Republicans when he thinks they're right 
and
hammer at home when he disagrees.

??GEPHARDT: If we do not learn from history, we are forced to repeat it. ?This
is a mistake that we will pay for for years to come.

??I try not to yell. ?I try to get ideas across as good a way as I can. ?But
there are times when you need to show your emotion. ?You need to let people 
know
that you really care about this. ?And you really want the country to go in a
different direction. ?And I think you can't appear too tentative or too laid
back or too uninterested.

??SNOW: But is the strategy working?

??I have talked to some Democrats who say that they are truly unhappy. Some of
whom say that they are unhappy with your leadership. ?They don't feel that
you're doing an effective job. ?Do you feel that there is trouble within the
ranks?

??GEPHARDT: I don't. ?I think that -- I think the ranks and the Democratic
Party are largely unified. ?They are marching together and working together in
ways that I've never seen them before. ?I always tell them that it's me and 
we.
And we have to be a team.

??I would never tell you that anybody is ever going to be pleased every day
with everything that happens, but largely, I think that we've achieved real
unity and real effectiveness in being the loyal opposition here in Washington.

??SNOW: How much of your days are spent thinking about 2002 in the next
election?

??GEPHARDT: Well, I want to win the majority back. ?I think it's really
important, not for the party and not for me, but for the country.

??SNOW: Is it more important to win back the majority than it is to win
legislatively for the next couple of years?

??GEPHARDT: I think it is in the House for sure, because the minority is 
really
out of power totally in the House. ?You have no ability to bring up 
amendments,
you don't set the agenda every day. And that is real power in the House.

??SNOW: There is a lot of focus on 2004, a lot of talk about your ambitions, 
do
you have plans to run for president?

??GEPHARDT: I really think that if you don't stay totally focused on the goal
that is ahead of you, then you lessen your chances of reaching that goal. ?And
my goal is to win back the majority in the Congress in 2002. ?I think, as 
usual
in our system, we all want to look ahead and start calling the next race after
that for president, but that is not what I'm doing and not what I should be
doing.

??SNOW (voice-over): Gephardt insists he's not planning ahead, though he's
scheduled to attend four events in New Hampshire in two weeks.

??GEPHARDT: The future will take of itself. ?I have no idea what will happen,
and I'm not worried about it, and I don't spend time worrying about it.
Because, again, I've got to do this in 2002. ?This is what we're trying to do.

??SNOW: So, are you committed to staying minority leader through 2002?

??GEPHARDT: Absolutely. ?I'm totally committed to winning this House back, and
I think we are going to do it.

??SNOW: Speaker of the House, you said to me last fall that that had a nice
ring to it? GEPHARDT: It works for me.

??(END VIDEOTAPE)

??WOODRUFF: Kate Snow talking with House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. ?They
talked today. ?And later this week, Kate will sit down with House Speaker 
Dennis
Hastert. ?You can look for that report on Friday.

??On another term for the another high-profile Republican and two nationally
known Democrats with apparent home state ambitions.

??INSIDE POLITICS will be right back.

??(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

??To no one's surprise, Charlton Heston was reelected today to an 
unprecedented
fourth term as president of the National Rifle Association. ?The 77-year-old
actor was chosen at the NRA's annual convention in Kansas City. ?The group
changed its rules last year to allow Heston a third term, and a spokesman said
there really wasn't much discussion by the board before deciding to elect him,
once again.

??Former Attorney General Janet Reno may be looking for a new line of work.
Now back in her native Florida, Reno says she finds the idea of running for
governor appealing.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??JANET RENO, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I love Florida very much. I was born 
and
raised there. ?I have lived there most of my life. ?And I want to make sure 
that
I do everything I can, either as governor or otherwise, to serve the interest 
of
the people of Florida.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??WOODRUFF: Reno says she does not believe that her Parkinson's Disease would
keep her from running, and she expects to make a decision before the end of 
the
year.

??Governor Jeb Bush says possible opponents do not factor into his decision on
whether to run for reelection.

??House Minority Whip David Bonior may trade in his Congressional seat for a
run at the governor's mansion. ?The 13-term Congressman from Michigan filed 
his
paperwork today to become a candidate in Michigan's 2002 governor's race. ?His
aides say that a formal announcement will come later. ?With Michigan slated to
lose one House district, Bonior's seat may be vulnerable to the state's
Republican controlled redistricting efforts. ?Republican Governor John Engler
cannot seek reelection because of term limits.

??Californians and the energy crunch: are they pointing fingers at the
president? ?We'll check new poll numbers from the Golden State, and discuss
power politics in the state when we return.

??(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

??WOODRUFF: At ground zero on the energy crunch: more than half of 
Californians
say they disapprove of the way President Bush is handling that state's power
woes, according to a new poll. ?But the survey shows more Californians are
placing blame for the problem on utility companies, former Governor Pete 
Wilson
and current Governor Gray Davis than on President Bush and the federal
government. ?The Democrats are trying hard to convince Californians that
Republicans should be held accountable for the power problem. ?Here is a
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad that begins airing in Los 
Angeles
today.

??(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

??NARRATOR: California's energy crisis is deepening, with summer blackouts
predicted and rate hikes of up to 80 percent. Yet President Bush has offered 
no
relief to hard-pressed rate payers. ?His spokesman saying, "The president
continues to believe that the issue is mostly a California matter" and our
representative, Stephen Horn, has joined with Bush in opposing a temporary cap
on electricity prices. ?Call Congressman Horn and tell him we need action now.

??That is if you can find the phone.

??(END VIDEO CLIP)

??WOODRUFF: The Democratic committee said that it has bought significant air
time for that spot, part of a month-long radio and TV ad campaign targeting
Republicans on energy. ?Let's talk more now about energy politics with the
director of that Public Policy Institute of California poll we just told you
about, Mark Baldassare joins us now from San Francisco.

??Mark, first of all, this poll finds Californians pessimistic in general, did
that surprise you?

??MARK BALDASSARE, CALIFORNIA POLLSTER: It did. ?For the past three years,
we've been in an incredible time of optimism in California. ?Two-thirds of
Californians have said that the state is going in the right direction. ?Most
Californians felt that economic times would continue to be good, and most
Californians also were highly approving of the governor and the legislature.
For the first time, we've seen a dramatic drop in optimism about the state,
about the economy and ratings of the governor.

??WOODRUFF: And why do you think that is?

??BALDASSARE: Well, eight in ten Californians say they have been closely
following the electricity situation in the state and most Californians are
telling us in our survey that they consider it the top issue and 80 percent of
Californians say it's a big problem and moreover, a problem that is going to
effect the economy. ?So there's been a great deal of uncertainty that's been
created by the electricity situation and because of that uncertainty, people 
are
beginning to feel very nervous about our state.

??WOODRUFF: So you're saying because of the electricity crisis, if you want to
call it that in California, it's now driving people's views of everything:
population, the economy, across-the-board.

??BALDASSARE: We -- for the past few years people have been focused on
improving the schools, for instance. ?Now only 6 percent in our most recent
survey said that's the issue that concerns them most in the state. ?And we see
that there is growing pessimism at the same time that there is growing concern
that this electricity situation is not under control and could affect the
state's economy.

??WOODRUFF: Explain for us, Mark, who people are blaming. ?We were -- Bill
Schneider reported earlier on the program that Americans, overall, are having
mixed views about to what extent President Bush is responsible. ?Here we're
learning in California, they hold President Bush far less responsible than 
they
do local leaders.

??BALDASSARE: Yeah, well, we are at time right now in California where people
haven't experienced the rate hikes yet. ?They've certainly heard about them.
They haven't experienced, for the most part, frequent rolling blackouts, but
they hear that they're coming. And so when we talk about blame, people are
focused on what happened five years ago to put us into this situation. ?And 
for
that, of course, they don't blame either the current governor or the current
president. ?Now, as we go forward over the next few months, people are going 
to
be re-assigning blame as well as re-evaluating the solutions that are in 
place,
and that's why I think both the Democrats and Republicans are very urgently
trying to get their message out right now about who they think is to blame and
who they think has the best solutions.

??WOODRUFF: Well, Mark, what is your reading on this? ?Are ads, like the ones
we just saw the Democrats running out there, are those likely to have an 
effect
on people's views?

??BALDASSARE: I don't think so. ?I think that what is will most going to have 
a
effect on people's views over these next few months is how the crisis is
actually resolved. ?And if people feel that these electricity hikes have 
really,
you know, altered their lifestyle or they're going to impact the economy, if
they feel blackouts are really going to, you know, put them in an 
uncomfortable
situation going through the summer, then my guess is they are going to give
blame both to Bush and to Davis.

??WOODRUFF: All right, Mark Baldassare of the California Public Policy
Institute. ?Thanks very much, good to see you again.

??BALDASSARE: Thank you. ?Same here.

??WOODRUFF: As California tries to ease its energy problems, there are 
concerns
about the cost not only for consumers, but for the environment. ?CNN's Rusty
Dornin takes a closer look at the issues being raised by one California 
plant's
effort to expand.

??(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

??RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An aging giant known as the
Mighty Moss. ?The 50-year-old Moss Landing Natural Gas plant along 
California's
coast owned by Duke Energy. ?A face lift and an expansion will soon make this
the largest power generator in the state, providing 2.3 million homes with
light, heat and air conditioning. ?But all that power takes water to cool the
turbines, water that's home to otters, fish, herons and other wildlife.

??CAROLYN NIELSEN, PLANT OPPONENT: Every day, Duke will use 333 football-size
fields -- pools of water that are 10 feet deep. ?That is just 
incomprehensible.

??DORNIN: Water from the wetlands run through the plant, returning to the 
ocean
30 degrees warmer. ?Been that way for 50 years. ?Now environmentalists worry
that increasing the intake will sterilize any creature sucked in.

??PATRICIA MATEJCEK, SIERRA CLUB: Everything that lives in that volume of
water: eggs from fish from clams, diatoms, young fish, everything in it will 
be
killed.

??DORNIN: Environmentalists say the Mighty Moss got a break on the approval
process, as regulators here faced the state's energy crisis. It took 14 
months.
Permitting for smaller plants in the state is down to 21 days.

??KAITILIN GAFFNEY, CENTER FOR MARINE CONSERVATION: It's so fast that my
concern is that we wouldn't even catch really obvious problems because we are
just are not taking a hard look at these plants at all.

??DORNIN: But here's the twist as part of the permit process: local
environmental groups signed off on the Mighty Moss renovation plan.

??GAFFNEY: So at the eleventh hour, we were able to work out this deal with
Duke to at least ensure that the scientific monitoring will go on.

??DORNIN (on camera): Duke Energy will spend more than $8 million expanding 
the
wetlands and in donations to local environmental groups. There will also be an
independent monitor who will assess any damage to the environment.

??TOM WILLIAMS, DUKE ENERGY: This will more than compensate any potential
effects that the new power plant will have on the habitat. This state is in an
energy crisis. ?The new plant we're bringing on is cleaner, more efficient 
than
virtually any plant in the country today.

??DORNIN: Environmentalists made a deal here, but many fear, in a power-hungry
state, taking what they can get may be their only option.

??Rusty Dornin, CNN, Moss Landing, California.

??(END VIDEOTAPE)

??WOODRUFF: A very different kind of power politics, circa the 1970s, is being
seen in a whole new light in some circles. ?Former President Ford is honored 
for
granting a famous -- some would say infamous -- at pardon.

??That's next on INSIDE POLITICS.

??(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

??WOODRUFF: It is something that many Americans that lived through the
Watergate era might never dream they would see. ?An award named for a 
Democratic
icon presented to the man who angered many Democrats by pardoning Richard 
Nixon.

??CNN's Bruce Morton has an inside view of this twist on political history.

??(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

??CAROLINE KENNEDY SCHLOSSBERG, JOHN KENNEDY'S DAUGHTER: He placed his love of
country ahead of his own political future. ?We are honored to present you,
President Ford, with the John F. Kennedy Profile In Courage Award for 2001.

??(APPLAUSE)

??BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gerald Ford, now 87, got the
award because, as a new unelected president, he pardoned his predecessor,
Richard Nixon, who had resigned in disgrace to avoid impeachment over the
Watergate scandal.

??RICHARD M. NIXON, 37TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I shall resign the
presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

??MORTON: "Our long national nightmare is over," the new man said of 
Watergate.
But really, what would end it? ?Nixon could still face charges.

??GERALD FORD, 38TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My conscience tells me 
that
only I, as president, have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal 
this
book.

??MORTON: And so he granted:

??FORD: A full, free and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon.

??MORTON: Many Americans thought that was a mistake.

??SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I was one of those who spoke out 
against
his actions then, but time has a way of clarifying past events. ?And now we 
see
that President Ford was right.

??MORTON: Not everyone agrees. ?Ford's press secretary at the time, Gerald Ter
Horst, resigned to protest the Nixon pardon and still thinks it was wrong.

??JERRY TER HORST, FORMER FORD PRESS SECRETARY: He was going to go off
scot-free, whereas all of his minions -- the people who worked at the White
House, from the chief of staff on down to Ehrlichman, Chuck Colson and others 
--
they were going to have to do prison time; they were not going to get pardons.
MORTON: And it may have cost Ford the 1976 election. ?It was a close election.
Many things could have swung it, but the pardon was surely one. ?Jimmy Carter,
who beat Ford, thanked him Inauguration Day.

??JAMES EARL CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For myself and for
our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our 
land.

??MORTON: Accepting the award, Ford talked about the need for courage today in
a politics dominated by "partisan jockeying at the expense of public policy."

??FORD: I sense a longing for community, a desire on the part of Americans to
be part of something bigger, finer than themselves.

??MORTON: Historians may still argue about the pardon. ?They agree he cared
about his country and its politics, and did what he thought was right.

??Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

??(END VIDEOTAPE)

??WOODRUFF: Also cited for political courage today, Democratic Congressman 
John
Lewis of Georgia who was beaten, as he and others challenged segregation 
during
the freedom rides through the South in 1961.

??Lewis was given a special Profile of Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement.

??Former president Ford, Congressman Lewis and Caroline Kennedy will all be
guests tonight on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." That's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

??That's all for this edition of INSIDE POLITICS. ?But of course, you can go
on-line all the time at CNN's allpolitics.com. ?AOL keyword: CNN.

??And our e-mail address is insidepolitics@cnn.com.

??This other programming note: Priscilla Sue Galey, the former stripper who
claims that FBI spy Robert Hanssen showered her with gifts, will be the guest
tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

??I'm Judy Woodruff. ?Stay tuned for a CNN special report: "Conflict in the
Middle East" coming up.

??TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR
SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com



LOAD-DATE: May 21, 2001