Power Plant Goes Dormant near Buttonwillow

Power Plant Goes Dormant near Buttonwillow, Calif.; Outage to Last Weeks

The Bakersfield Californian --May 21

May 21--La Paloma, a 1,000-megawatt power plant in west Kern County, is temporarily dormant.

The plant near Buttonwillow is not producing any electricity, according to the Independent System Operator, which runs the state power grid.

However, the ISO and DTE Energy Systems, the company that manages the plant, said the outage was planned and is only temporary.

The four electricity-generating turbines "should be back up over the next few weeks," DTE spokeswoman Lorie Kessler said.

She said the turbines were taken down so routine maintenance work could be done before energy demand peaks this summer.

PG&E National Energy Group began construction of La Paloma at the start of 2000. The plant, which uses natural gas for fuel, went on-line in phases in January and March of 2003, about a year behind schedule, according to the California Energy Commission.

PG&E National Energy Group, headquartered in Bethesda, Md., filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2003. The company changed its name to National Energy & Gas Transmission in anticipation of severing ties with its parent company, PG&E Corp.

National transferred operating and management responsibilities at La Paloma to DTE Energy Systems, headquartered in Detroit, last month.

Another natural-gas fueled power plant, Pastoria, is going up on the west side of Kern County, this one near Lebec. Once finished, Pastoria will have the capacity to generate 750 megawatts of electricity.

One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes over the course of a year, according to the California Energy Commission.

Kent Robertson, a spokesman for Calpine, the San Jose company building Pastoria, said phase one of the project, totaling 250 megawatts, should be completed by the end of this year. He said phase two, with the remaining 500 megawatts, will follow in summer 2005.

Its original on-line date was January 2003, according to the California Energy Commission. Robertson has previously said that a sagging energy market forced a slowdown.

Robertson on Friday confirmed that 70 electricians have been laid off from the Pastoria construction site. He said it was the result of Calpine changing contractors and that electricians would be rehired. He did not know if all 70 would get their jobs back, but said, "We can't build a power plant without electricians."

Robertson said this is not unusual for a construction job.

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