Free Republic

SACRAMENTO -- Although officials are expressing concern that the energy crisis may return this summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Bush administration will stage a ceremony today to mark the easing of a north-south state transmission bottleneck that sparked blackouts three years ago. Officials on Monday called the project a landmark achievement, but they also disclosed that the Schwarzenegger administration has been forced to adopt dual plans for short- and long-term power development because Californians last summer already hit usage levels projected for 2006. Consumer groups, who protested Schwarzenegger's rejection of Democrat-sponsored energy legislation earlier this year, said today's ceremony...