Bonneville ships 9,200 megawatt hours of electricity to California Filed: 01/17/2001

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Bonneville Power Administration has again sent emergency supplies of electricity to California while warning about the potential for a serious conflict if the Pacific Northwest faces a sudden shortage at the same time.

"We're getting more and more concerned about these exchanges," said BPA spokesman Mike Hansen.

Bonneville, the federal power marketing agency based in Portland, shipped 9,200 megawatt hours of electricity to California on Tuesday at critical times during the day to help Oregon's neighbor avoid rolling blackouts.

California promised to return double the amount within two weeks.

Last Thursday, Bonneville sent a similar amount of electricity south when California also faced the threat of rolling blackouts.

Electricity supplies in the Northwest have been strained due to unusually cold, dry weather. The cold has increased demand while dry conditions have reduced the amount of water available to run turbine generators at the string of 29 hydroelectric dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington have asked residents to conserve energy for the rest of winter. But tight electricity supplies are expected to continue until more generating capacity is built.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 17, 2001