Stage Two Alert Declared

March 28: The manager of the state´s power grid has declared a stage 2 emergency today. State residents are asked to limit their use of power.

March 29: California Governor Gray Davis is asking lawmakers to approve spending another one half billion dollars for
power purchases. That increases the amount available for power buys to nearly five billion dollars. Southern California Edison says it´s starting to pay the state back for previous power purchases.

This alert means that reserves have dropped below 5 percent. This follows yesterday´s stage 2 alert and two days last week of stage 2 emergencies.

March 30: California’s electric grid operator has declared a Stage 2 alert, meaning power supplies are running low on
an unseasonably warm day.

The alert by the Independent System Operator means the state is within 5 percent of running out of power.

ISO spokeswoman Lorie O´Donley says the warning was prompted when the wind died, costing the state about seven-hundred megawatts of wind-generated electricity.

She says two plants scheduled to begin producing power this afternoon should help the state get through the day.

The state suffered two days of rolling blackouts last week when supplies ran dangerously low.

California Governor Gray Davis has asked lawmakers to approve 500 million dollars more to buy power for
struggling Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric.

Davis’ request would bring the state’s power purchases to 4.7 billion dollars since
the power buying began in January.

Companies the state wants to build 29 small “peaker” power plants say the Department of Water
Resources is holding them up by insisting on revised contract terms.

The companies are trying to get the plants on line for use this summer, to avoid rolling blackouts. The Water Resources Department says the changes are in the consumers’ best interests, and won’t hold up the projects too long.