But temperatures have been moderate—that is, in the 80s—and last week’s rare July rain cooled things down in Southern California and kept energy-sucking air-conditioners off.

Davis—who just officially launched his re-election campaign last week—and the Democrats seem to have decided that the energy crisis might just knock state Republicans off of the endangered species list. In a long-term contract with power-producers, the state locked itself into stable—if not generous—electricity rates for the near future. After much wrangling, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreed to price caps on electricity in western states. But until recently, President Bush was pretty much ignoring the problem. It may have helped that many of the energy companies that could benefit from the state’s power companies were based in Texas. Or maybe he thought the crisis would boost his argument that we need to drill more oil and make his buddies from the oil industry even richer. But the Dems cut a few deals to bring electricity back to the state’s high but reasonable rates.

Thus, for most Californians, the whole mess stinks of politics. Indeed, 74 percent of Californians in the Times poll said that they “strongly agree” that power companies have manipulated prices in order to make a profit. Bush has gotten even worse ratings from Californians than Davis. The poll showed that 65 percent disapprove of the way he has handled the electricity shortage. For now, Davis still has a lead in the polls over Riordan, but the election is many months away. Once the political slugfest gets into gear, Californians may hold Davis responsible for their inflated electricity bills. Nevertheless, the crisis may be just the things the Republicans need to reestablish a significant presence in Sacramento.

Also in attendance at the April panel at Harvard was Debra Bowen, a state senator and chair of the Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee that has been dealing with the power mess.

She said that there was only a two to four percent increase in power consumption state-wide in 1999-2000, while utility companies were seeing their profits shoot up nearly 1,000 percent in some cases.

“The only conclusion I can draw from this is that several people are planning to retire after selling power to California this summer,” she said.

What’s an honest Californian to do? For now, I’m keeping the thermostat on 80 and making sure not to use expensive scientific equipment when the grid goes down. I’m also doing some reading on Andres Pico, the Mexican leader at the Battle of San Pasqual. That is, if the lights stay on.

Jonathan H. Esensten ’04, a Crimson editor, is a biochemical sciences concentrator in Lowell House. This summer, he is getting reacquainted with the virtues of sunlight.