POWER UPGRADE CELEBRATED TODAY BUT CRITICS WARN NEW LINE NOT ENOUGH.

Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau

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 at the state's power-network control center near Sacramento actually signals the Schwarzenegger administration's failure to make progress.

Construction of a third, 84-mile transmission line along infamous ``Path 15,'' between Los Banos and Coalinga in the Central Valley, was kicked off under the previous administration - that of Gov. Gray Davis, who was recalled last year, partly because of his handling of the 2001 energy crisis.

Frank Maisano, a spokesman for Trans-Elect, one of the companies involved in the joint public-private venture, praised the project as historic and a key model for quickly and efficiently improving electricity networks. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to join U.S. Energy Department Deputy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow at the event today.

The two-way lines together allow power to be transmitted from Northern California and beyond to Southern California if needed, or vice versa, depending on conditions.

However, the improvement, along with construction of several generating plants of varying capacities in recent years, may not be enough to thwart blackouts this summer, officials said.

``We're working with the Governor's Office, the state Public Utilities Commission and the (federal) Energy Commission on a short-term plan,'' said Gregg Fishman, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, the agency that oversees the state's power grid. ``Next summer could be problematic.''

Even if short-term steps succeed, more remains to be done in coming years on both generating and transmitting power, Fishman said.

Consumer groups said today's ceremony actually demonstrates the Schwarzenegger administration's energy-policy shortcomings. His biggest mistake was vetoing legislation in September that would have revived regulation of the power industry, according to leaders in the Utility Reform Network.

But administration officials said the governor's proposals will solve California's energy woes while retaining the best aspects of deregulation - an abrupt move in the 1990s that helped spur the energy crisis.

His plan involves the complex tasks of writing new regulations, accelerating the implementation of previously passed legislation and expanding the state's power-industry infrastructure to meet demands, officials said.

Staff Writer David M. Drucker contributed to this report.

Steve Geissinger, [phone]

sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com