Natural Gas Supply May Be Cut Off
Gas Prices May Soar
SACRAMENTO, 9:18 a.m. EST January 19, 2001 -- Just when California residents thought the power situation couldn't get any worse, Pacific Gas & Electric warned Thursday that the natural gas supply may be cut off.
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State senators passed an emergency measure Thursday night, releasing $400 million from the state's general fund to help pay for much-needed electricity.
"We just simply can't allow rolling blackouts to continue in this state," Sen. Debra Bowen, D-California, said.
But as legislators work to solve one looming problem, another potential power crisis is threatening to leave residents in the cold.
PG&E announced that six of its natural gas suppliers have or are threatening to completely stop the delivery of gas to them in the coming days.
That would mean a 36 percent drop in the company's daily natural gas flow. PG&E says that drop could lead to gas outages by early February or could ultimately divert gas from power plants -- crippling their ability to generate electricity.
"You face the horrible reality that we could be taking natural gas from power plants at a time when we're already having an electricity shortage. So this crisis is very real," PG&E spokeswoman Stacy Homrig said.
Legislators warned power generators throughout the nation Thursday night that now is not the time to kick Californians while they're down.
"One of the things we've done is send a clear message to electricity and gas suppliers that the state is about to be in the business of buying power. And, certainly we want to deal with those who have not forced citizens to experience outages," Bowen said.
The current power crisis has caused three straight days of temporary shutdowns along California's main gasoline artery.
Officials say that if the crisis causes continued shutdowns, consumers may be in for long gas lines and much higher prices at the gas pumps.
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