While California's appetite for electricity has soared with the Internet economy, experts say the recent market downturn won't bring much relief to a state bracing for summer blackouts.
Weather plays a far greater role in the state's power use than the economy.
Still, with electricity supplies expected to be critically short this summer, a recession wouldn't hurt. That means California's total peak electricity demand of about 53,000 megawatts could rise or fall by roughly 1,300 megawatts, about the output of two large power plants. But even with stocks plummeting this week, energy officials aren't counting on lower power demand this summer. For starters, economists have yet to declare a recession, either nationally or in California. Energy officials are looking more to the weather than to Wall Street for summer salvation.