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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (73526)	7/19/2006 8:48:41 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361648

Yeah, I went off-line yesterday. I figure my neighbors and friends, and a few business who went solar, were all that stood between normalcy and a western blackout.

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (73526)	7/19/2006 10:32:04 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361648

Energy use debate heats up By EDWIN GARCIA San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News SACRAMENTO - The effects of California's sweltering heat became a political issue Tuesday for the candidate seeking to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Phil Angelides, the Democratic nominee for governor, charged that Schwarzenegger has failed to deliver on a campaign promise to attract new power plants to ease energy shortages on summer days that lead to high electricity consumption, thus creating an energy crisis. ``With this heat wave, our energy grid has been strained almost to breaking,'' Angelides said. ``His lack of attention on this issue, his failure to move us forward, has resulted in the state once again playing Russian roulette with its energy supplies.'' Schwarzenegger's campaign countered with a statement criticizing Angelides for what it calls a ``Typical Phil: Gloom and Doom'' attitude about California. ``If Phil Angelides took off his partisan shades for just a second, he would see what the rest of Californians see: a growing economy, over a half-million new jobs, record levels of education funding, and the lights in his campaign office are still on despite record power usage,'' said spokesman Matt David. This week's heat wave has prompted record energy usage in California, and state officials are urging conservation. Schwarzenegger was voted into office in a 2003 special recall election while blaming then-Gov. Gray Davis for mishandling the state's energy crisis when large-scale rolling blackouts occurred throughout California. Four power plants approved by the Schwarzenegger administration have been completed, according to the California Energy Commission. Plants representing fewer than 1,000 new megawatts approved by the administration are under construction, while 30 projects representing 11,390 megawatts are in the approval process, according to the Angelides campaign. One megawatt is enough to supply about 750 homes. David's statement said 10 power plants have begun commercial operation since November 2003, providing 4,408 megawatts. A representative for the commission said the approval process could take a year for each power plant. And even after some have been approved, energy companies in some cases cancel their construction plans. thestate.com