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Quayle did illegal work for? Presumably we'll be going after them too?"

"Damn right we are! There should be records of payments to Quayle

Electrical in the books of Zacc, and the others, which opens up another

whole side to the case." London's voice reflected mounting enthusiasm.

"I'm telling you, Nim, we've uncovered a fat rat's nest. I predict some

big names in this town will have mud on them before all this is over."

"The chairman will want a detailed report," Nim said. "And progress

reports later."

"He'll get them. So will you."

"How about staff? Can you handle all this with the people you have now?"

"Not sure yet, Nim. I may need some help. If so, I'll let you know next

week."

"What's happened to the three men who were arrested?"

"They're out on bail. The police are protecting the kid, hiding him,

because they intend to use him as a prosecution witness. By the way, one

thing he let out was that only some of the Quayle crews-the trusted

ones-have been doing power theft installations. If we can narrow that

down to which crews, it should make investigation easier."

"Just one thing puzzles me," Nim said. "Since the illegal work at the

Zaco Building was already done, why did the Quayle crew go back?"

"That's one great big laugh," London answered. "A laugh on them. That way

the kid heard it, and told Wineski, somebody in charge at Zaco heard a

rumble about our snooping-Art Romeo's and mine. It bad them worried. So

they decided not to steal as much, and what those three guys were doing

was modifying the work they'd done earlier. If they'd left well enough

alone, we could have stewed forever, waiting."

"Speaking of stew," Nim said, "have some more."

Later that afternoon, while Nim was with J. Eric Humphrey in the

chairman's office suite, he described the substance of the Property Pro-

tection chief's report. "You could think of it as a small Christmas pres-

ent," Nim said.

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Humphrey expressed brief approval, smiled at the reference to Christmas,

which was five days away, then let the subject drop. As Nim was aware,

other matters were weighing more heavily on the chairman's mind.

One was Tunipah. Another was water. A third was oil.

Hearings on GSP&L's Tunipah license application before the California

Energy Commission were proceeding even more slowly than anticipated,

their pace described by Oscar O'Brien the day before: "A snail by

comparison is supersonic." Clearly it would be months before the present,

first stage of hearings was concluded, with the prospect of subsequent

stages stretching on for years. Coupled with that the other related

hearings-before the Public Utilities Commission, Water Quality Resources

Board, and Air Resources Board-had not even begun.

As a result, O'Brien had now revised his earlier estimate that licensing

procedures would take six to seven years. "The way things are going," he

reported yesterday, "it could be eight years, even ten, before we get

permission to start construction. Assuming we ever do."

As to other proposed generating plants, including Devil's Gate pumped

storage and Fincastle geothermal, progress was equally, dispiritingly

slow.

And all the while, as Eric Humphrey, Nim, and others in the GSP&L

hierarchy realized, a day of reckoning was drawing closer; a day when

public demands for electric power would surpass by far what could be

produced with existing facilities. On that day and beyond, the unbuilt

plants of Tunipah, Fincastle, Devil's Gate, et al, would be desperately,

but vainly, longed for.

Water was the second reason for the chairman's concern.

Despite two winter storms with accompanying rainfall, seasonal pre-

cipitation in California so far had been alarmingly small. Reservoirs,

depleted by an earlier drought were far below normal levels for the third

week of December. And snow, which usually fell heavily in the Sierra

Nevada and elsewhere, had been exceptionally light or nonexistent.

In a good precipitation year, winter snow was money in the bank for a

huge public utility like Golden State Power & Light. When the snow melted

in the spring, great rivers and streams cascaded downward, filling

reservoirs which would fuel a vast network of hydroelectric power

stations during the summer ahead.

Now, according to estimates which Eric Humphrey had been given,

hydroelectric power next year might be reduced by twenty-five percent

because of the lack of runoff water.

Then oil.

,,f 14ipq -For Golden State Power -&

Light, as well as other pubiilc 1;

along both coasts, oil loomed as the largest question mark, the biggest

potential worry of them all.

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Only that morning, in the Chronicle-West, a syndicated business columnist

had summed up the situation:

The danger about oil has been creeping up, like a tiger in the grass,

while we haven't noticed or maybe didn't want to.

It began with the decline of the U.S. dollar several years ago -our once

respected "greenback," but no longer strong, no longer "good as gold"

because the dollar's gold backing was canceled out during the Nixon

presidency.

Then, while the dollar plunged because of ineptitude and politics in

Washington, the oil exporting nations of the Middle East, North and West

Africa, Indonesia and Venezuela raised their dollar prices in an attempt

to stay even.

That didn't work. The dollar continues to sink like the setting sun,

worth less and less in terms of real value because the U.S. has paid (and

goes on paying) far more for imported oil than it earns from exports.

And, as more dollars departed for Saudi Arabia, Iran and elsewhere, more

were printed by the U. S. Treasury-depleting the dollar's value even

further.

After that we witnessed some interim experimentspayment for oil through

a "basket of currencies" was one. (That's a highfalutin name for a

mixture including deutschemarks, guilders, French and Swiss francs,

pounds sterling, yen and dollars.) But that, too, proved ineffective

because the ailing dollar and pound tipped the basket downward.

Finally, the oil nations demanded payment in the only money which, in

this world's long history, has never failed to keep its value-gold.

The United States refused. It still does. (Of course you can see the

Treasury's viewpoint. The U.S. doesn't have that much gold left, having

squandered enormous amounts in futile attempts to "demonetize" gold. In

fact, there's only sufficient in Fort Knox and the Fed Reserve banks to

pay one year's oil bill with a bit left over.)

Instead the U. S. Treasury, which for more than a decade has relied on

printing-press money-backed by nothing-to pay its way, has offered to run

the presses faster and produce more paper dollars.

But this time the oil nations have been adamant. They have said, in

effect, "If we want paper money we can print our own -without giving away

our oil to get it." And, like the mythical Chinese laundryman who

insisted, "No tickee, no washee," they now threaten: "No gold, no oil."

So, it seems, an impasse is imminent.

True, the oil has not stopped flowing-yet! Equally true: It could be a

year or more before it does.

230

Meanwhile, discussions between governments are continuing, so a

compromise is possible. We'll wait and see.

The general uncertainty about oil was an ominous, overhanging cloud for GSP

& L because nearly half of the company's generating capacity was dependent

on oil fuel, the bulk of it imported.

Natural gas, which used to be available to generate electricity, was al-

ready in short supply.

Thus, the prospect of an oil, gas and water shortage simultaneously was

something which Eric Humphrey, Nim, and other executives preferred not to

think about-and shuddered when they did.

"Is there any chance, do you think," Eric Humphrey asked Paul Sherman Yale,

"of the Governor's changing his mind and coming out with an endorsement of

our Tunipah plans? After all, with an ongoing oil and gas crisis, what

stronger argument is there for a coal-burning plant?"

Mr. justice Yale had joined Humphrey and Nim shortly after Nim's report on

tbeft of service. The previous day, GSP & L's new and distinguisbed

spokesman had been in Sacramento at the state capitol.

"Tbe Governor acknowledges that argument," Yale said, "and he's

vacillating. I saw him yesterday and urged him to make a pro-Tunipah

statement. I'd say the chances are sixty-forty that he will."

"I'm pleased to bear it." Humphrey noticeably brightened and Nim thought:

Once more the chairman's wisdom in hiring Paul Yale was being demonstrated.

Yale seemed able to walk into the Governor's office without advance notice

whenever he chose and the same was true of his access to senior

legislators.

"I can tell you, gentlemen," Yale said, "that there's plenty of worrying in

Sacramento about oil. 'nose I talked with yesterday, including the

Governor, see gasoline rationing as inevitable soon, whether the present

crisis is settled or not."

"Personally," Humphrey said, "I'd consider that a good thing. The way North

Americans have used cars, especially big cars, squandering gasoline as if

there were no tomorrow, has been gross and disgusting. The

Europeans-rightly so-believe we're irresponsible."

Nim resisted an impulse to remind the chairman about his own big car.

Instead, be told Yale, "I hope Sacramento realizes that producing

electricity is a much more economical use of oil than in an automobile."

Paul Sherman Yale smiled. "I assure you I lose no opportunitypublic and

private-to make that clear."

Nim remembered that Yale had made that I>oint publicly a week ago. It was

on a TV program, Meet the State Press, where, considering

231

the short time since his appointment, the former Associate justice showed

himself adroitly knowledgeable about GSP&L affairs. Watching the show at

home, Nim had again felt regret at not being the utility's policy

spokesman any more. But honesty made him admit that Yale did the job

superbly.

"I assume," Paul Yale said, "that Golden State Power still includes

nuclear generating plants on its future shopping list."

"Officially, yes," Nim answered. "We have two nuclear plants under

construction-got them licensed just before nuclear licensing became a

practical impossibility. Also, we've applied for two more nuclear con-

struction permits, but the application is getting nowbere. So

unofficially ."He shrugged.

"The fact is," Eric Humphrey added, "the likelihood of more nuclear

plants being approved for California becomes increasingly remote. The

only sure thing is that the nuclear debate-pro and con-will go on and on

with nothing resolved. We can't wait."

Eric Humphrey's mind had swung back to their earlier discussion about

oil. "I sometimes think if I were an Arab I'd refuse paper dollars for

my oil and demand gold, or at least a gold-backed currency. I wonder if