DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE? NOT IN THE DARK

California, one of the world’s richest regions, is facing a second day of power cuts after the state governor declared a state of emergency to keep basic services functioning.

Lights, heaters, and lifts stopped working across the state as Governor Gray Davis ordered the major switch off and diverted power to vital areas. Under the state of emergency the governor can use funds from its current budget to buy power.

The state, which boasts more millionaires per square mile than virtually anywhere else in the world, has a rapidly growing population and booming economy which has overwhelmed its scant electricity supplies.

Cash-strapped

As a result of little or no investment in utilities since they were privatised, California has built no major power plants for 10 years.

Rapid growth in neighbouring Western states has sapped the out-of-state power supplies California used to draw on when its own generators ran short, leaving the entire region scrambling for badly-needed megawatts.

Helping hand

Emergency hydropower from dams in Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Canada have in the past managed to squeeze out a few extra megawatts to help California, but the combination of heavy reliance on the rivers for power and a dry winter have dropped reservoirs to extremely low levels for this time of year.

California's chronic power shortages have spawned urgent pleas by state officials for energy conservation, and individual efforts to turn off lights and avoid using appliances.

But when supplies run low and conservation is not enough, controlled or "rolling blackouts" are necessary to relieve the strain on the grid and avoid far more widespread outages, which can severely damage the systems's electrical equipment.

http://www.sky.com/news/world/story19.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 18, 2001