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Pastimes : The Case for Nuclear Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (55)	3/19/2001 4:22:08 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 312

Rolling Blackouts starting early in good old California. This summer is going to be UGLY!!! dailynews.yahoo.com Monday March 19 3:26 PM ET Rolling Blackouts Ordered in Calif. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The managers of California's power grid called a Stage 3 alert Monday and ordered rolling blackouts for the first time since January. Officials with the California Independent System Operator, keeper of the state's electricity grid, said higher demand combined with a lack of electricity from the Northwest prompted the alert. The ISO ordered the state's two biggest utility companies, Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison, to cut a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, enough power for roughly 500,000 homes. The outages were split between Northern and Southern California, said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle. She said warmer temperatures led to the higher demand, as people begin using air conditioners. The power grid last ordered rolling blackouts Jan. 17 and 18 across Northern California, affecting more than 675,000 homes and businesses for more than two hours at a time. Hospitals and airports were exempt. Tom Boyd, a spokesman for SoCal Edison, said the utility has ordered blackouts in the Los Angeles-area cities of Chino, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Visalia, Banning, Kern and Santa Monica. The outages are scheduled to last up to an hour. SoCal Edison and PG&E say they have lost $13 billion since last year because of high wholesale electricity costs. Energy wholesalers have been reluctant to provide power for fear of not being repaid. Power alerts were lifted in February, thanks to the availability of more imported electricity and the return to service of power plants that had been down for repairs. But California has prepared for a summer of anticipated power shortages and the possibility of rolling blackouts. Natural gas supplies are tight, water supplies are down and a heat wave could drive up demand for power. The state's peak demand for power is expected to exceed supplies from May through September, according to the ISO. The projected deficit will range from 3,030 megawatts in May to as high as 6,815 megawatts in June. It takes about 1,000 megawatts to power 1 million homes. Gov. Gray Davis' administration has committed $2.7 billion - about $45 million a day - for power purchases. That will be repaid when the state issues an estimated $10 billion in revenue bonds in May approved for cheaper, long-term power contracts. Legislators also have been working on bills intended to result in more power plants in the state.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (55)	3/20/2001 3:36:01 AM
From: CVJ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 312

Ron, There's another source of almost unlimited fuel for generating electricity. Wind Power and Methane. Strap a windpowered generator to each elected politician and their various advocacy groups. The hot air churning around ought to be worth a bunch of Gigawatts AND the methane content of all the BS, especially in election years, should be enough to provide electricity for the entire country. Chas