Despite California¿s aggressive response to the 2000-2001 energy crisis & the ongoing work of regulators to reach policy consensus, there is still a meaningful risk that future power supplies will come up short. One of the key drivers of this risk is a highly uncertain investment climate. In addition, the State¿s power policy still has significant flaws that will challenge long-term reliability & will contribute to continued high retail electricity costs for consumers. This paper highlights the risks of a near- to medium-power-supply shortage & sets forth options policy makers have for alleviating these risks. It also identifies the key longer-term challenges that policy makers face in reforming the State¿s power sector. Illustrations.

"On the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Bonneville Power Administration in 1987, the agency published a history,"BPA & The Struggle for Power at Cost." It covered the origin of BPA and the early days of electrical service in the Pacific Northwest to the mid-1980s. This book,issued for BPA's 75th anniversary,picks up roughly where that volume left off. It begins with the 1980 passage of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act,usually called the Northwest Power Act,a milestone that reshaped the region's energy picture and has influenced BPA's course ever since. The story then covers BPA,s march to the millennium and beyond"--P. vii.