Features

SANTA CLARA — Mayors from several U.S. cities gathered Monday at a conference to hash out energy issues with a focus on the future of the tumultuous deregulated market. 

The mayors from California, Colorado, Washington, Arkansas and Utah also got fresh information from federal officials about security concerns for power generating plants and transmission facilities in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Many of the mayors come from areas hard hit by the energy crisis that caused rolling blackouts and soaring rates last year in California. They’re looking for answers as they grapple with growth issues and increased energy consumption. 

The conference served as a primer for an initial understanding of current energy issues. 

Lewis Billings, mayor of Provo, Utah, said his city has seen 3 percent annual growth in recent years and is looking for improved energy policies that would not require power suppliers to dramatically raise rates. 

“We’ll be really hurt if we’re not prudent in the public policy that goes forward,” Billings said. 

Other mayors, such as conference host Judy Nadler of Santa Clara, were concerned that the transmission lines and infrastructure bringing power to the Bay Area are aging rapidly. 

“The infrastructure is quite old. In many areas it’s outdated. It’s not environmentally friendly,” Nadler told those in attendance. 

Fairfield Mayor Karin MacMillan said she seeks to protect her constituents from a repeat of the same poor planning and power buying contracts that fueled the rising rates and problems of the past. 

She was also concerned that her county of Solano did not have its own hazardous materials team of experts available to respond in case nuclear waste being transported through her county was somehow disrupted. 

Under current conditions, her city would have to wait on a Hazmat team from nearby Napa County to respond to such an emergency. 

“I’m talking about nuclear. I’m talking about dirty bombs. I’m talking about anything,” MacMillan said. 

Jodi Hanson, deputy assistant secretary of national security at the Department of Energy, said despite environmental concerns about the disposal of its waste, nuclear energy is a prized source of power. 

“We consider that a clean energy. In other countries, such as Japan, it’s not this divisive issue,” Hanson said. 

What the national energy plan needs to include, Hanson said, is an emphasis on security increases at power generating and transmission lines and a focus on public awareness programs and reusable sources of energy. 

There’s also much repair work needed for the Western regional power system, said Nora Mead Brownell, a commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

“The Western infrastructure, particularly in California, is still fragile and fraying around the edges,” Brownell said. “We’ve had 10 years of underinvestment in transmission in this country because nobody knew what the rules were going to be.” 

“It means we’re not replacing aging plants with new, more environmentally benign plants,” Brownell said. 

Infighting among various camps may have taken the debate off track to a direction that does little for developing an economy for sustainable energy.