TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13 2001 US energy supply insufficient FROM CHRIS AYRES IN NEW YORK AMERICA will not have enough energy to meet peak demand over the next two summers, the chief executive of one of the US’s biggest power companies said yesterday.

Charles Watson, chief executive of Dynegy, said the US needed an extra 445,000 megawatts of electricity generating capacity this year to meet the summer demand, when Americans rely on power-hungry air conditioning systems.

America’s booming economy has led to massive demand for power. Electricity companies have not invested enough to meet demand, leading to spiralling prices and collapsing infrastructure.

Concern over electricity infrastructure in the US has heightened after the crisis in California, which has led to state-wide “rolling blackouts”.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,5-82964,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 12, 2001