Electrical shortages in California will not affect electrical prices or availability in Freeborn County directly, but Midwesterners should be concerned about shortages on the west coast because they are a symptom of a structural problem nationwide, said Alliant Energy Communications Manager John Ruff.

Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Electrical shortages in California will not affect electrical prices or availability in Freeborn County directly, but Midwesterners should be concerned about shortages on the west coast because they are a symptom of a structural problem nationwide, said Alliant Energy Communications Manager John Ruff.

Power purchasing and transmission in the United States essentially breaks up into three regions, Ruff said: the east and west – with the Rocky Mountains as the dividing line – and Texas.

Power lines don’t go over the Rocky Mountains, but infrastructure problems similar to those in the west – including too few transmission lines and power plants – threaten the eastern half of the country with the same sort of electrical crunch this summer, Ruff said.

&uot;We’re OK on energy supplies in the winter here,&uot; Ruff said. &uot;In the summer is when we have to watch it very carefully.&uot;

&uot;Some of these same kind of problems that are happening in California could happen closer to here,&uot; he said.

Alliant and other utility industry representatives are asking legislators to consider a comprehensive national energy policy that would encourage exploration for natural gas and make it easier to build power plants and transmission lines, Ruff said.

&uot;Consumers have gone from one energy crisis to the next for 30 years,&uot; he said. &uot;We want to see stability in the markets so that customers don’t have to go through this cyclical process that is very stressful for their households.&uot;

Consumers use 30 percent more electricity than they did 10 years ago, but utility companies have not been able to build the infrastructure to keep pace with the increased demand, he said. Building one new power plant would take six to eight years and cost around $1 billion, Ruff said.

Any time a utility company proposes to build a new plant or a new plant line it’s met with vehement opposition, he said. This is partially due to a &uot;not in my backyard&uot; attitude by consumers who don’t want to be near power plants or transmission lines, but utility companies share some blame, he said.

&uot;I think utility companies need to do a better job of explaining why we’re building,&uot; he said. &uot;We don’t go out and build new power plants and transmission lines just to build them. We do it to meet the demands of the customers.&uot;

Because of the difficulty building plants and transmission lines, Alliant purchases up to 24 percent of its electricity from private power producers to make up for the gap.

Alliant is proposing tax incentives encouraging consumers to conserve energy in their homes by replacing windows, appliances and adding insulation, he said. But the supply issue must also be addressed.

The benefits of further development of alternative energy sources and refining traditional methods like coal and nuclear powered plants need to be publicly debated, Ruff said.

&uot;I think it’s important for customers to hear our side and the opposition’s side and make an informed decision,&uot; he said. &uot;Ultimately, it is the customers that have to pay the bills, and have to have the energy on demand.&uot;