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Gold/Mining/Energy : CPN: Calpine Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: deepenergyfella who wrote (7)	1/15/2001 10:48:59 PM
From: General Crude	Respond to of 555

From CBS Marketwatch: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Despite the threat that California's energy crisis could make communities across the state go dark, many residents still resist construction of new power plants in their neighborhoods. A proposed power plant that has drawn fire in San Jose is just a bad idea, says resident Elizabeth Cord, even though she lives three miles from the site. "It's an inappropriate location. I think there are many other locations throughout the Bay area and the state," said Cord. "Of course, they're playing this to the hilt, that we need it, but the facts don't bear that out." Wholesale power prices have increased fivefold in California since summer, accompanied by a series of drops in the state's power reserves. The state already has spent roughly $30 million buying electricity in the past month to stave off rolling blackouts. And California's two biggest investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, say they have lost more than $9 billion because the state's 1996 deregulation law prevents them from passing the higher electricity prices on to their customers. Many communities worry about pollution from new plants, but advocates say they can be cleaner than existing industries. Jerry Martin, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, said a 550-megawatt plant planned for Los Angeles County would be very clean for an operation of its size. "It would be put in an area near a big warehouse," Martin said. "It's estimated that the plant would be cleaner than the warehouse, with its diesel trucks going back and forth. It's still being heavily opposed." In San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, the city council has rejected the proposed power plant near Cisco Systems Inc.'s 688-acre corporate park in Coyote Valley in part because the site is too close to residential neighborhoods. "There is still too much uncertainty about the local air quality impacts," said city spokesman David Vossbrink. "We're not opposed to it if a good practical site can be found that's not a detriment to our neighborhoods or environment." The California Energy Commission, which licenses new power plants and is considering 14 new ones statewide, endorsed the proposed San Jose plant in October and could effectively overrule the city council's land-use ruling. The commission has licensed one power plant against a community's wishes. However, that plant in the Hunter's Point area of San Francisco never was built because the land could not be obtained. The commission also overruled a local jurisdiction in Northern California near the Geysers geothermal power plants after local authorities had refused power line access. "It very seldom happens," said Rob Schlichting, a spokesman for the energy commission. "We prefer to make everybody happy if we can." In San Jose, Vossbrink said the state should concentrate on bringing all existing power plants on line. About a third of the state's generating capacity is out of service for various reasons, including maintenance. "It's not about a single plant in San Jose," he said. But Schlichting said more plants are still needed. Sixty-five percent of the state's power plants are more than 30 years old, meaning they need to be shut more frequently for service, and the trend is to replace them with new, cleaner, more efficient power plants.