EDITORIAL A POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY ANGELENOS CAN HELP THEIR CITY, THEIR NEIGHBORS AND THEIR POCKETBOOKS BY CUTTING BACK ON ELECTRICITY USE.

WHILE electricity shortages pose a danger to the rest of the state, they present a great opportunity for Los Angeles.

Responding to the last energy crisis in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power built more power plants than the city needed. The result is that for the past 20 years, DWP has been mired in a massive debt that has been reflected in high bills for its customers.

But now L.A.'s power surplus has turned into a financial windfall for the DWP - a windfall that could be maximized with L.A. residents' cooperation.

The key is conservation.

The DWP has been selling off its excess energy at a tidy profit - about $200 million over the past two years - and using the revenues to pay off old debts. This practice will make the agency solvent in the near future and it should produce lower rates for Angelenos further down the road.

But with a little conservation, those savings could be much greater and come a lot sooner.

Were L.A. residents to cut back, even slightly, on their electric consumption, the DWP would be able to sell more surplus power on the open market.

That, in turn, would allow the agency to pay off its debts more quickly, thereby saving ratepayers the cost of future interest payments.

And that's on top of the savings ratepayers would enjoy just by using less power and running up smaller bills.

But the reasons for conservation are more than just selnterested. Scaling back on our power use is a good way to save money and do good at the same time.

Freeing up more power for the DWP to sell elsewhere would provide some much-needed relief to our neighbors outside L.A. It would help diminish their chances of rolling blackouts, perhaps even sparing them from still higher utility rates.

There's plenty of simple, painless ways to cut back energy use, many of them compiled at the LADWP's Web site: www.ladwp.com.

Don't leave the TV or lights on when no one's in the room. Turn down the heat at night or when you're out of the house. Only run the washer, dryer and dishwasher with full loads. Let the dishes air-dry.

Replacing old, inefficient appliances is another good way to conserve that may soon become less expensive. In his State of the State speech, Gov. Gray Davis promised to spend $250 million giving rebates to Californians who replace refrigerators, washers, dryers and air conditioners with energy-efficient models.

Low-power devices are sometimes more expensive, but over tine, they can pay for themselves in lower utility bills.

Saving power doesn't have to be difficult, and right now it's profitable - for the city, for the state and for ratepayers everywhere.