Gray

President George W. Bush, addressing business leaders and Gov. Gray Davis in Los Angeles Tuesday, delivered a public and unmistakable ‘no’ to price caps as a way out of the western energy crisis, and called for an end to finger-pointing. “Blame shifting is not action,” Bush said. “It is distraction.”

California Gov. Gray Davis late last week had the state add yet another series of formal appeals to an already long list of federal filings seeking wholesale power price relief, along with focusing his latest ire and jawboning on the state’s 30 municipal utilities. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filings keep the heat on prior to the governor’s anticipated meeting with President Bush Tuesday.

Representatives from a dozen merchant generators met with California Gov. Gray Davis for four hours late Wednesday in discusssions that one participant characterized as “cordial and candid,” but the result only reinforced differences between the state and electricity suppliers, whom the governor has characterized as “gougers.” The only clear agreement among the participants was to maintain daily contact with the governor and his staff to keep a dialogue going.

As a backdrop to the latest series of blackouts, California Gov. Gray Davis huddled Wednesday in Sacramento with large merchant generators while his chief utility regulator prepared for next week’s electric rate decision. The largest residential users and all businesses will carry the burden of retail price increases up to 52% for some customers. Both low-income and low-energy-consuming residential customers will be exempted for the rate increase.

Like most California governors over the past 40 or more years, Gray Davis came to office 28 months ago hoping to build a national reputation. Four months into his third year, most observers would agree he has accomplished that goal. But at what price?

California Gov. Gray Davis Tuesday announced the formation of a statewide task force, under a Democratic appointee whose most recent job was reconstruction in Bosnia and Kosovo, to speed the development of more power plants in the state. It came on a day when California’s weather began to heat up, power plant capacity idled for maintenance remained high (10,000 MW) and the state grid operator began pleading for stepped up conservation.

Williams is holding an open season to gather market interest in capacity on its proposed Gray’s Harbor Lateral in Thurston County, WA. The lateral, which would extend off of Northwest Pipeline’s mainline near Vail, is being designed primarily to serve a new electric generation plant in the Sarsop Development park near Elma, WA. The first 36 miles of the 48-mile line will parallel Northwest’s existing Olympia and McCleary laterals.

Williams is holding an open season to gather market interest in capacity on its proposed Gray’s Harbor Lateral in Thurston County, WA. The lateral, which would extend off of Northwest Pipeline’s mainline near Vail, is being designed primarily to serve a new electric generation plant in the Sarsop Development park near Elma, WA. The first 36 miles of the 48-mile line will parallel Northwest’s existing Olympia and McCleary laterals. So far, the plant operator has signed an agreement for 161,500 Dth/d of firm capacity on the lateral, which is scheduled to be in service in November 2002. Northwest expects to charge its minimum rate plus an estimated surcharge of 29 cents/Dth for the facility cost of service. Williams said it is seeking 15-year contracts. For more information call Patrick Aman at (801) 584-6322. Precedent agreements must be submitted by April 20. Williams said if its anchor shipper backs out of the deal, it will cancel the project and all service agreements will be terminated.

With the shadow of one major utility’s bankruptcy barely cast, California Gov. Gray Davis late Monday announced a “memorandum of agreement” with the state’s other major financially wounded investor-owned utility, Southern California Edison Co. in which the state will purchase the Edison transmission grid assets in return for a way out of its credit crunch and back to solvency.