Runner calls for upgrades of power plants

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press January 16, 2001

By WILLIAM P. WARFORD
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - For all the talk about the energy crunch, most Californians have yet to realize how serious it is, Assemblyman George Runner said Monday.

"I'm not sure the severity has really clicked yet," said the thirdterm Republican from Lancaster. "That only happens when the bill goes up or the lights don't come on. Then people really get it."

Speaking at a breakfast gathering of community leaders at the Desert Inn, Runner gave a brief overview of how the state arrived at the point of soaring rates and rolling blackouts. And he talked about the difficult task of wading out of the maze, recommending the upgrade of present power plants to increase their output.

"Deregulation in 1996 was, at best, ill-conceived on some of the issues. There was an assumption that there would always be enough power and a competitive market would keep the price down. Lots of the people were telling us how good this was going to be, and Edison was at the forefront," Runner said.

Problems arose because no new power plants have been built in years; the retail and wholesale branches of the operation were separated; and power companies had to sell off their plants. Suddenly they were at the mercy of out of state companies for the purchase of new electricity. That, Runner said, coupled with the Public Utilities Commission's new regulations, led to the fix the state is now in.

"Electricity drives absolutely everything that we are and what we have. So how do we bring (the price) down?" he said.

As recently as Thursday, bills were introduced in the Assembly intended to improve the situation, but Runner, who took office in January 1997, is taking a cautious approach before signing on to anything. "It was the wisdom of the Legislature that got California into this mess in the first place. If we move too quickly, we could get ourselves into a situation that's even more onerous over the next few years."

Runner said because the environmental review process is so onerous in California - it can take years to approve a project and no dams can be built to provide new hydroelectric power - an acceptable solution would be to renovate existing plants to make them more efficient and less polluting. "Upgrade these plants with no environmental process, which makes sense because you're making them less polluting."

In the short term, Runner recommended using the state budget surplus to help consumers, and he reminded everyone about the importance of conserving energy. "Avoiding these rolling blackouts comes from saving electricity. Just look at all the machines we have on in our houses all the time now - fax machines, computers."