Parts of state immune to crisis

Customers east of the boulevard get their power from the Imperial Irrigation District, one of only four public utilities in the state that control their own distribution systems and are shielded from the blackouts threatening other parts of California.

It's a situation that has allowed parts of the desert, Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale to escape the worst of California's power crisis.

In the desert of Riverside County more than 100 miles east of Los Angeles, Ron Hare, president of the Indio Chamber of Commerce, thinks the rapidly developing area can cash in on the attraction of the reliable power supplied by IID.

"We're kind of selfish," said Hare, who owns Ciro's Restaurant in Indio. "We want to use our energy source down the line to attract new businesses east of Washington (Street)."

IID and its 95,000 customers in the area stretching from La Quinta east and south to the Arizona and Mexican borders find themselves in an enviable position.

The public utility generates 70 percent of its own power through its eight hydroelectric plants and several fossil-fuel facilities. It buys the rest of through long-term contracts with private providers signed before the energy crisis began.

That allows IID to offer power rates that utility officials said are 15 percent less than Edison's while controlling its own transmission system to deliver that electricity to customers.

"We can move power wherever we need it, whenever we need it," said Ron Hull, manager of public affairs for IID.

IID kept that control by not joining the California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state's power grid.

Public utilities in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale made the same decision and also remain in control of their distribution systems. That has also kept them shielded from blackouts and provided opportunities to make money by selling excess power to the ISO.

The other 27 public utilities in the state gave up control as part of their agreements to join the ISO, according to Jerry Jordan, executive director of the California Municipal Utilities Association. Now, those utilities must share power during shortages as a condition of using the grid to transport their electricity.

IID has no such obligation. It sidestepped problems facing other utilities by taking a wait-and-see attitude when deregulation began in 1996.

"We were not particularly excited about deregulation," said Andy Horne, president of the IID board of directors. "It's probably fortunate. I don't think anyone expected the type of meltdown we have seen in the past several months."

IID serves most of La Quinta. The utility's lower rates and delivery system are among a number of factors helping the city attract new businesses, according to Assistant City Manager Mark Weiss.<