State not alone in energy crisis Only by building new power generating plants and developing ways to conserve energy can the state and the country make it through crisis, Washington Gov. Gary Locke says.

Gov. Gary Locke - Special to The Spokesman-Review

Myths, unfounded fears and even misinformation are clouding the real energy issues with which we are dealing in Washington and most other Western states.

Let's keep to the facts.

Myth Number 1: Only Washington has an energy crisis.

Electricity to at least 3.6 million families in 18 states may be shut off because they lack the money to pay their utilities' $870 million in energy bills, according to a recent study reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Power bills are rising so fast and so high that more people across the West cannot pay them.

Some of the people who can't pay bills have been laid off by companies in Tacoma, Bellingham and other Washington cities -- as well as Montana, California, Nevada, Colorado and other Western states -- because the companies themselves cannot afford skyrocketing power costs.

This time last year, electricity cost the Northwest $16 per megawatt hour on the wholesale market. Last week it was over $300 a megawatt hour. At times in January, it cost $2,000 a megawatt hour. The price could go to $5,000 per megawatt this summer.

The Bonneville Power Administration recently announced that rates could increase as high as 250 percent if significant conservation steps aren't taken across the Northwest because of the drought we face.

Another myth: The state is at fault for not approving more energy projects.

The 10 percent reduction in our energy consumption I've called for will have huge benefits for the state and I hope everyone will achieve that goal at home and at work.

But we also need new generation.

Before this energy crisis began, state and local authorities already had approved six new gas-fired electricity plants -- including one in Creston -- to be built by private companies that could have provided 3,000 megawatts of power. That's enough for more than two cities the size of Seattle -- had they been built.

It was the companies, not the state, that chose to delay construction.

Now they are beginning to build. TransAlta has begun construction on a 248-megawatt plant in Centralia while Tractebel is building a 521- megawatt plant in Centralia. Both should be operational next year. A windmill farm capable of generating 300 megawatts will begin operating along the Columbia River this year.

We've also taken steps to allow 24-hour production from plants that used to operate only a few hours a day plus diesel-powered generation, creating another 300 megawatts.

Many more plants are in the siting process or are being proposed that could provide 4,000 megawatts -- power for three million households.

Obviously I'm promoting new generation.

But it's equally important to remember we'd be in a much more difficult situation if some members of both parties in the Legislature and I hadn't worked to derail California-style retail energy deregulation in Washington when it was proposed four years ago. Just look at California's bankruptcy-ridden chaos to fully appreciate the bullet we dodged in Washington.

The state is doing its part.

A proposal to build a power plant in Sumas has not yet come to my desk so I cannot comment on it.

But I've been working in Olympia to pass energy legislation that will do four fundamental things:

•Promote the generation of more electricity.

•Promote more conservation and energy efficiency.

•Reduce our reliance on fossil fuels by using renewable sources such as wind, solar power and other alternatives.

•And provide financial assistance to low-income citizens.

Again, our energy crisis is gripping the West -- Montana, Nevada, Colorado, California, Idaho and other states. Additional help must come from the federal government. No single state can control the wholesale price of electricity which is bought and sold regionally via a grid of power lines.

A growing crescendo of calls is coming from governors and members of Congress from across the West for the Bush administration to stabilize wholesale energy prices.

I've called for controls on wholesale prices to make them fair and reasonable, I have testified before Congress and I'm continuing to press for immediate relief from obscenely high electricity prices.

I, along with President Bush, recognize the need for a national energy policy.

But it cannot be one that relies exclusively on fossil fuels.

We must diversify our sources or we will burn, drill, dig and pollute our way to one energy shortage after another.

I'm working very hard at the federal and state level to guide us through this energy and drought crisis.

Drought and energy are not partisan issues. They are quality of life issues. Let's solve them together.

Gary Locke is the governor of Washington State.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001