A year later, an uneasy calm has settled over California's electricity grid. The last rolling blackout was in May 2001. The state survived near-record demand for power during a July heat wave.
But the calm may be sowing the seeds of new troubles. Conservation is slipping even as the state's economy remains sluggish. Aging power plants are being retired as new units begin operating. Ambitious plans for additional power plants are crumbling along with the balance sheets of energy companies; Enron went bankrupt in December 2001 and several other big suppliers are in deep financial trouble. PG&E remains mired in bankruptcy, and federal and state officials disagree about how to redesign the system.
"We may have put a Band-Aid on this problem," says Alan Vallow, utility director for the central California city of Lodi. But the state is "creating a crisis down the road."
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