Power warning from Western governors

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Power Warning From Western Governors

By Will Lester, Associated Press Writer

Friday, March 2, 2001; 2:05 AM

WASHINGTON –– Governors are watching the Western energy scramble closely, though some at their national meeting here tended to view those power shortages as a distant, regional problem unlikely to affect states in other areas.

Power woes like those affecting the West, however, eventually could show up in any part of the country, Western governors and energy analysts caution.

Some parts of the Northeast, not unfamiliar with such power crunches in the past, could experience more shortages as early as this summer, analysts say. Many states now going through deregulation must strive to avoid the pitfalls experienced in California with its periodic "rolling blackouts."

"The Western problems are definitely something other regions could see, especially those areas that deregulate," said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute. "In areas where they are moving toward deregulation, they don't seem to have understood the lessons of California."

The Western energy crunch "has been more of a regional problem," said Michelle Byrnie, a spokeswoman for Maryland Gov.Parris Glendening, who chaired the governor's meeting. "We're waiting on the administration to propose a comprehensive policy."

California Gov. Gray Davis advised governors who asked about energy this past weekend: "The most important lesson is don't deregulate unless you have much more power than you need. If you're going to deregulate, make the first claim on that power to your state before electrons are exported."

Davis also cautioned:

"There are a number of things that happened in California that I would strongly urge other states not to follow. No power plant has been built in our state for 12 years. We now import 20 percent of our power."

Steven Maviglio, spokesman for Davis, said the California governor was asked about deregulation by "just about every other governor" at the national governors meeting in Washington this past weekend.

About half the states in the nation have approved deregulation plans and are in various stages of carrying them out. Several, including Nevada, have stopped or slowed deregulation after seeing the problems in California.

"At a time of dwindling supply, the governor refused to proceed with deregulation," said Jack Finn, a spokesman for Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn. "California has brought us to the brink of crisis ... and is draining our supply."

Because states in the West are linked through a common power grid, power shortages in California can affect Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. If California's situation is severe enough, it could suck electricity from the rest of the grid and set up a ripple effect in other states' utility systems.

Outside the West, other states remain sold on deregulation, which is intended to heighten competition and lower energy prices. In Pennsylvania, deregulation of the energy market has drawn widespread praise and lowered prices.

"We deregulated our utility industry in a way that brings every possible positive market and consumer influence to bear," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. "They call what California did deregulation – that gives deregulation a bad name."

Pennsylvania solicited input from all who had an interest in deregulation, initiated the program at the start of 1997 and phased in a pilot program to get out the bugs.

"We've reduced rates that used to be 15 percent above the national average," Ridge said, "to 4 or 5 percent below the average."

Several governors said they expect the problems of the energy supply will have a higher profile among their colleagues in the coming months, but they want to see what the Bush administration will be developing in the way of a national energy policy.

"I didn't hear a lot of talk about (the Western crunch)," said Arizona Gov. Jane Hull. "What I heard more of from the Northeast and Midwest was the high cost of heating oil and natural gas."

Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt said when governors from other regions mentioned electricity deregulation, they would say: "Boy, you've been through it out there in the West, haven't you?"

Leavitt cautioned "rolling blackouts" experienced in California this winter are not the last time the nation will be hearing about such power woes.

"The peak season for Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah is not the winter, it's the summer, with its air conditioning, construction and production," he said. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

EDITORS' NOTE – Will Lester covers polling and politics for The Associated Press.

© 2001 The Associated Press

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), March 02, 2001


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