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| March
31, 2001 |
| Low
Snowpack Dims Calif. Power Hopes |
By DON THOMPSON
Associated
Press Writer
SACRAMENTO,
Calif. (AP)--California's hopes of averting blackouts this summer were dimmed
Friday by low snowpack measurements in the Sierra Nevada, which means less water
to run the region's hydroelectric plants.
California draws about a fourth
of its power from in-state hydroelectric plants, and the state relies heavily
on winter rain and snow to fill the reservoirs.
``This is a blow from
Mother Nature,'' said Christy Dennis, a spokeswoman for Pacific Gas and Electric
Co., the state's biggest utility.
The low Sierra Nevada snowpack means
California's hydroelectric production may fall more than a third below normal
this summer, said Maury Roos, California's chief hydrologist.
California
already expected little hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest, which
has been stricken by drought.
The state Department of Water Resources'
sensors showed the Sierra Nevada snowpack at about 60 percent of normal Friday,
spokesman Jeff Cohen said.
``It looks more like the conditions at the
end of April than at the end of March,'' he said.
California has been
hit by severe electricity shortages and rolling blackouts over the past few months.
The problem is blamed on a variety of factors, including deregulation of California's
electric industry and scarce Northwest hydroelectric power.
``It's not
a pretty situation'' throughout the West, said John Harrison of the Northwest
Power Planning Council, which serves Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. ``It's
unlikely there will be any power to ship south.''
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