L.A. POWER DEAL IN WORKS.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

With California's energy problems continuing, Mayor Richard Riordan is scheduled to meet today with Utah officials to open negotiations for expanding the city's Intermountain Power Project plant.

Riordan and Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt are set to meet in Salt Lake City on a Los Angeles proposal to expand its power generation at the coal-powered facility in Delta, Utah, which now supplies about one-third of L.A.'s power.

``The expansion of this plant will not only offer relief to the state of California, it will help to ensure that Angelenos will have a reliable source of power to meet the growing and changing population of Los Angeles,'' Riordan said in a statement.

The mayor has proposed adding a third power plant at the site to boost energy production.

David Freeman, the Department of Water and Power general manager on loan to the state to negotiate long-term contracts, is also scheduled to be involved in the talks.

The DWP is one of the few utilities in the state that has not been hit hard by the power shortage. It has been able to sell its surplus electricity because the city-owned utility was exempted from the state's energy deregulation law.

Riordan aides said the mayor wants to determine how Utah officials feel about the plant expansion and whether the permit process can be accelerated for quick construction.