California extendeds its Stage 3 alert to Monday

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01/21/01- Updated 09:41 AM ET

Lawmakers scramble for power solution SACRAMENTO (AP) — California extended its Stage 3 alert on Sunday to midnight Monday as lawmakers scrambled to find an affordable solution to the state's power crisis.

The keeper of the state power grid had looked forward to a break from high demand over the weekend. But the Independent System Operator found less hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest than expected, forcing it to impose its first-ever Saturday Stage 3 alert as reserves approached 1.50%.

Despite the tight supplies, the ISO expected to locate enough electricity to avoid rolling outages, spokeswoman Lorie O'Donley said.

The ISO shut off power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses this week for the first time in the monthslong electricity crisis.

The outages affected only the northern half of the state. Southern California, with most of the state's population, was spared because of the layout of the state's power grid and because Los Angeles uses its own power sources to serve its 4 million residents.

In a stopgap effort, Gov. Gray Davis signed emergency legislation Friday allocating $400 million in state funds to buy power and provide it to cash-strapped utilities. At current wholesale prices, that money was expected to last only a week or two.

Lawmakers and Davis administration officials were working through the weekend on a long-term plan to rescue Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, both on the brink of bankruptcy.

Government officials were not available for comment Saturday, but PG&E spokesman John Nelson said time was running out.

''It is a matter of days, and at most weeks, before utilities run out of cash altogether,'' Nelson said.

Under discussion was a proposal that would put the state in the electricity business for up to five years, buying power at low rates and selling it directly to consumers.

The crisis, months in the making, peaked when soaring natural gas prices and a shortage of hydroelectric power drove up the wholesale price of energy. PG&E and SoCal Edison couldn't increase customers' bills to cover those rising costs because deregulation imposed a price freeze.

The effects of the power crisis began to ripple through the economy this week, as power problems shut down the state's main gasoline pipeline and forced farmers to dump milk because dairy plants were running for fewer hours.

Late Friday, the Public Utilities Commission released the state's two major gasoline pipelines, operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and GATX Terminals Corp., from their interruptible service obligations for at least the next seven days, said Claudia Chandler, a spokeswoman for the state Energy Commission, which pushed for the exemption.

A few independent stations used up their gas supply after the pipeline stopped running during the outages imposed under the interruptible power contracts.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/2001-01-21-calif.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 21, 2001

-- Power User (User@No.end.in.sight), January 21, 2001

Answers

Perhaps Manny's verbal skills and negotiating techniques could be of assistance to California's governor and ISO in "persuading" power suppliers to sell at more reasonable rates than 10x normal.

-- Not A Manny Fan (Manny@is.an.idiot), January 21, 2001.

If 10x is the going rate, then so be it!!!!!

Jeesh, this ain't a socialist country, remember? If you can get the price you are asking for then only an IDIOT would be "nice" and ask for less!!!

-- mbo (rfp@mail.com), January 21, 2001.

How about conspiracies in restraint of true free trade. There's something pretty suspicious about all the idle plant capacity that has sort of simultaneously occured at a peak usage time of year. And why can't the cost of electricity be passed on to the consumer? My natural gas price (not usage) just went up 67% over last month.

-- Suspicious (of@big.business.and.big.government), January 21, 2001.

Since Californians continue to prove to the universe that they can't find their asses from a hole in the ground, we should just go ahead and kick the idiots out of the union and give it all back to Mexico! After all, with their rolling blackouts, they don't deserve to be classified as a developed State.... maybe when they do find their ass, the rest of the union will think of letting a "3rd world" state back into the nation, but I hope not...

-- dumb and dumber (idiots@california.sucks), January 21, 2001.

"... conspiracies in restraint of true free trade..."

Ha ha ha, I guess you are just pissed you did not get invited to the clandestine meeting at the 'Bohemian Forest Club' with the rest of the rich anglo-saxon protestant world order!!! Get a life already. I guess the black helicopters have been buzzing your house too much, eh?

-- mbo (rfp@mail.com), January 21, 2001.

Actually they have, mbo. However if you look closely most of them turn out not to be black but rather a very dark OD, and they usually have sillouette USA markings. Not all are close enough to confirm, but I suspect that most of them do have some sort of ID markings. Some of them may be SPEC OPS craft.

-- Suspicious (of@big.business.and.big.government), January 21, 2001.

dumb and dumber is a great name for you

so which one are you? let me guess....dumber

-- (cin@cin.cin), January 21, 2001.

with hands firmly onthose wide hips, cin stamps her feet and whines- "dumb and dumber is a great name for you so which one are you? let me guess....dumber

-- (cin@cin.cin), January 21, 2001. =============================

let me guess, you're one of those millions of californians who can't find your ass from a hole in the ground, right?

-- u r idoits (california@rot.in.hell), January 22, 2001.