It Could Be Years Before California Pays For Northwest Power January 24, 2001 By Bryan Johnson

SAN FRANCISCO - An official of one of California's largest power companies, Pacific Gas & Electric, admitted Wednesday it may be years before PG&E and Southern California Edison are able to pay for power the Northwest is selling them.

John Nelson of PG&E told KOMO 4 News the Northwest should continue sending power south because California has either the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world, and that if a recession begins in California it won't end there.

The Bush administration on Tuesday extended -- but for two weeks only -- a federal directive that orders power suppliers to continue selling to California.

Many San Francisco Bay Area residents say they're counting on the goodwill of Northwest residents. They also say it was the power companies that created the problem and that consumers shouldn't have to pay as a result.

Send Coffee, Not Power?

One Sausalito woman laughed and said the power shortage could require cutting off power to the equivalent of half a million homes.

"If the Northwest doesn't help out," she said, "I can't believe you want many of those people moving north."

But others in Sausalito say they're not convinced the problem is real. They suspect power companies are just looking for big rate increases.

One of them, holding a tall latte, said he'd rather Seattle send Californians good coffee than electricity.

Governor Taking Bids

In Sacramento, Gov. Gray Davis began accepting bids Tuesday for electricity contracts ranging from six months to 10 years. He hoped suppliers would agree to sell for $55 per megawatt, though wholesalers have suggested they are more interested in the $80-per-megawatt rang

The state has been frantically scrounging power for days to avert rolling blackouts, buying megawatts on the expensive spot market from as far away as Canada.

State officials say they have already spent more than $113 of a $400 million fund approved last week by lawmakers to buy power for cash-strapped PG&E and SoCal Edison, which are on the verge of bankruptcy.

http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=8881

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 24, 2001