GOP OFFICIALS IN TOWN FOR CASH.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Republican governors from throughout the country descended on Los Angeles on Wednesday to raise funds and take a few shots at Gov. Gray Davis' handling of the power crisis.

While Davis already has a $25 million war chest for his re-election campaign next year, members of the Republican Governors Association said the energy crisis will make him vulnerable.

``This is very severe and significant and impacts every person in the state,'' said Gov. John Rowland of Connecticut, the group's vice chairman. ``That's a governor's worst nightmare.''

The governors said they will not get involved in picking or supporting a GOP gubernatorial candidate before the 2002 state primary, and will unite behind the Republican chosen by state voters.

They also argued that it is up to California to work out its power problems, rather than seeking a bailout from President George W. Bush.

``A federal government that can give you all that you want is capable of taking everything you have,'' said Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer, who specializes in energy issues for the Western Governors Association.

Gov. Jane Dee Hull of Arizona added: ``California has not come forward to solve their own problems, and the federal government can only do so much.''

Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio said the state wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to impose price caps but that FERC has taken only ``baby steps'' in that direction. The Bush administration opposes price caps, saying they provide no inducement for increasing the electricity generating capacity in the state.

``They need to step up to the plate,'' Maviglio said. ``What happens in California has a ripple effect throughout the country in terms of our economy.''

Davis issued a statement noting that the energy crisis also affects the states of some of the Republican governors at the conference.

``My fellow governors should look before they leap,'' Davis said. ``Eighty-five percent of the increased demand on the Western grid comes from states outside of California.

``In California, I have approved 13 major power plants and signed into law $800 million worth of incentives for electricity conservation. The Western states would be well served if they worked as hard as California is in building power plants and conserving energy.''

Rowland, the GOP governors' vice chairman, said the group expected to raise between $200,000 to $300,000 during the Los Angeles trip. Today, the group will head to San Jose.

Secretary of State Bill Jones, a gubernatorial candidate and the only Republican to hold statewide office, attended the convention to schmooze with a group he hopes to join someday. He criticized Davis' attempt to acquire the state's power transmission grid.

`'It doesn't provide to us additional energy. It consumes our resources and it puts us in the energy business, which I oppose,'' Jones said in an interview.