Davis Will Offer Plan on Energy Crisis in State of State Speech

With Californians’ attention increasingly fixed on the growing electricity crisis, Gov. Gray Davis today is expected to detail publicly his plan to resolve it.

The Democratic governor will deliver his third State of the State speech at 5 p.m., and he has promised to flesh out his vision of how the state can work its way out of the power crisis, which has been building for months.

“Energy and education will be front and center in the speech,” said Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio. However, Maviglio sought to dampen expectations, adding: “There is no silver bullet when it comes to the energy question.”

The substance of the speech, to be given before a joint session of the Legislature, is much anticipated. Lawmakers have convened a special session on energy at Davis’ request. Consumer activists have criticized last week’s decision by the Public Utilities Commission to let the state’s largest utilities raise customers’ rates temporarily. Utility executives, warning that they face bankruptcy because of soaring wholesale power costs, say the emergency increases are inadequate.

“Monday’s speech cannot be symbolic,” said Gale Kaufman, a top Democratic political consultant.

Kaufman spoke last week after the California Public Utilities Commission moved to raise electricity rates 9% for many residential customers in a temporary step. The PUC action was widely viewed as a stopgap solution, designed to help utilities while the state seeks longer-term answers.

“He [Davis] bought himself until Monday to show his vision, which he expects the PUC and others to implement,” Kaufman said.

After the speech, Davis will meet with top Clinton administration officials, federal energy regulators and utility executives in Washington, D.C., in a further attempt to find solutions.

Davis is scheduled to return to Sacramento by Wednesday to release his proposed 2001-02 budget. The $100-billion-plus spending plan will include more details about his energy proposals, including $1 billion to expand electricity conservation.

In addition to the energy allocation, Davis will offer money for public schools, including $1.4 billion spread over three years to expand the middle school year from 180 days to 210 days.

On Sunday, the administration said the proposed budget will include $86 million to help improve police training and buy equipment to combat high-tech crime, including identity theft.

Davis has been criticized for being slow to offer proposals beyond the $1-billion energy conservation effort. Even on that he has offered no specifics. Many of his pronouncements blame power producers and federal energy regulators for the rising prices and shaky supply of electricity, and remind people that it was his predecessors who approved the 1996 legislation that deregulated electricity.

Now other officials, notably state Treasurer Phil Angelides, have started to put forward their own ideas. Last week, Angelides suggested a $10-billion plan to buy the state’s electricity distribution system from the utilities, build generators and finance conservation. Davis has not said whether he supports such a major shift in California’s energy strategy.

“Voters don’t care who caused the problem, but they know Gray Davis is their governor and they expect him to fix it,” said Republican consultant Dan Schnur, a former top aide to Davis’ predecessor, Gov. Pete Wilson.

The governor’s busy week comes as a Times poll has found that 51% of registered voters approve of the way Davis, entering his third year in office, handles his job. That’s down from his 59% approval rating in October and off sharply from last February, when 67% of voters approved of his performance.

Californians said they disapprove of his handling of the electricity crisis by 39% to 29%, while only 33% said the governor has shown decisive leadership on the issue, and 41% said Davis has been indecisive.

Respondents said they favor re-regulation of the electricity industry.

Davis announced Sunday that the California Energy Commission has licensed its ninth power plant since April 1999.

The power plants will produce 6,278 megawatts, increasing California’s electricity generation system by 12%--enough power to provide electricity to 6 million households.

Three of the nine plants will be generating electricity by this summer, providing 1,350 megawatts. Two more plants should be online by next summer, producing 1,930 megawatts. An additional 14 power plants--totaling 7,136 megawatts--are in the Energy Commission’s licensing review process.

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Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.

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Speech to Be Broadcast on Net

Gov. Gray Davis’ 5 p.m. State of the State speech today will be broadcast on the state’s Internet Web site, https://www.ca.gov.