Report: Increased rolling blackouts in store for California this summer

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- California will experience more rolling blackouts this summer than originally predicted, according to a report released Tuesday by a national organization of power producers.

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) report also warns that New England, New York City and Texas should be on guard for possible electricity shortages.

The news comes on the same day that California residents were to find out how much more they can expect to pay for electricity. The California Public Utilities Commission approved rate hikes in March and meets Tuesday to decide how to apportion them. Under one proposed plan, residents could see rate hikes as high as 35 percent.

NERC is an organization of power producers based in Princeton, New Jersey. Its report suggests that rate hikes won't be the only source of pain for California residents, who have already suffered through rolling blackouts this year. The state's energy crunch, which has the two largest utilities in the red, appears to have been precipitated to some extent by its move into deregulation.

MESSAGE BOARD Energy crunch

"The assessment concludes that California will experience difficulties meeting its projected electricity demand this summer, and California electricity users will experience rotating blackouts, much more so than last summer or this past winter," said Michehl R. Gent, NERC president and chief executive officer.

Gent predicted the state will sustain an average of 15 hours of rolling blackouts a week throughout the summer.

California's problems will be aggravated, the report said, by extreme drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest. That means output from hydroelectric plants will be down, cutting off a possible source of electricity for the state.

"We expect that utilities in the Pacific Northwest will be able to serve all of their firm demands this summer, but they will not have electricity available to export to California and elsewhere," Gent said.

New England, New York City and Texas have enough electricity resources, the report added, but "should be closely watched" in the event of long-term heat waves and higher-than-expected demand.

"In the long term, certainly anything that the federal government can do to expedite the creation and ... construction of power plants, of transmission lines will improve the situation," said Tim Gallagher, NERC manager for technical services. "In the short term, any conservation measures that they can help promulgate will help the situation."

Citing the electricity crunch and rising gasoline prices, the Bush administration is trying to build support for its national energy policy, expected to be released Thursday. White House aides have stressed there are no short-term solutions to the problems, a stand criticized by some Democrats, including California Gov. Gray Davis, who want temporary price controls.

The plan, according to aides, will combine incentives for conservation and developing energy resources in addition to petroleum -- such as nuclear power -- and new initiatives aimed at promoting domestic oil drilling.