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Show The Salt Lake Tribune NATION A7 Saturday, March 10, 2001 Utility Costs Cast Shadow on Vegas Strip Glitter Civil Rights Commission Cites Florida Vote Faults Hotels,casinostry energy-efficient measures BY LISA SNEDEKER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS — Nevada's hotelcasinos are synonymous with ne- on. Butall that glitter comes at an increasingly high price as energy costs continue to rise throughout the West and threaten to shortcircuit the state’s top industry. A megaresort with 3,000 rooms uses as muchelectricity as 9,000 three-bedroom homes,said Lauran Watson, an executive for Las Vegas-based Nevada PowerCo. At peak demand,just one resort the size of the Mirage or Treasure Island uses more powerthan a large hospital. MGMMirage,the largest owner of hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, has budgeted $39 million for power costs this year compared withlast year’s $33 million — an 18 percent anes?said Bobby Baldwin, ‘THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS presidentof the company’s Mirage division, “and those rates may go higher.” Down the Las WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found evidence of multiple prob- Vegas Strip, Glenn Schaeffer, Mandalay Resort Group president and chief finan- lems in Florida’s presidential election and told state officials cial officer, is predicting that his Fridayit will watchclosely in the company — which owns andoperates Mandalay Bay, the Luxor and next two months to see how the Legislature remedies them. The commission has not completed its report but wanted to Circus Circus, among others — could see its electricity and natural gas costs rise as much as 30 percent overthe nextyear. Manyare trying to cut costs through energy efficiency measures in less visible areas, hoping to keep the marquees twinkling. The MGM Grandrecently put compactfluorescentbulbs that use share preliminary findings before the state Legislature ends its eight-week session. The Legislature opened Tuesday. Laura Rauch/The Associated Press Hotels and casinos were all aglow last week on the Las VegasStrip, where powershortages have brought double-digit rate increases. 214 watts in eachofits 5,005 guest roomsandsuites. The old incandescent and fluorescentbulbs used 560 watts. Treasure Island’s hotel-casino barking garage is eyieneto sodium light bulbs that are just as “We are in the bright-lights bright but use 30 percent less energy. ButSchaeffer says conservation efforts can onlygo so far: business,” he said. “People want the lights turned on. ... You cando things here and there, but there’s no escapingrising prices.” The commission, which held two hearings in the state this winter, agreed Friday to hold springtimehearings in Florida to assess the state’s response to problemsin thepresidential elec- tion in November. For more than a month, the nation watched as Florida strug- gled through a contested presidential recount with complaints US. May Have BeenCheated in Uranium Sale, Auditors Say of poor voting access, problems negotiated the deal, was paid $3.4 million for “questionablecosts.” some discrimination occurred, whetherit wasintentional or unintentional,” said Commission with vote standards and improp- erly counted votes. “Tt seemsto be quite clear that ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Whenthe government put enriched uranium estimated to be worth $10 million up for sale, it expected a good return. Instead, the U.S. Treasury received a scant $76,051, raising the ire of Energy Department investigators. A private contractor, who handled thesale, reaped millions of dollars, according to auditors. After a review of the sale, the department's inspector general concluded that the contractor, who prepared and packaged the uranium and On top ofthat, Fluor Fernald Inc., received a $675,430 fee for handling the deal, nearly 10 times what the government made on the 1997 sale, said the inspector general's report recently made public. Still, the deal was vigorously defended Friday by the contractor and by the Energy Department office at the Fernald weapons plant near Cincinnati, where the uranium waslocated and is being disposed of as part of a general cleanup project. i “Wedon’t think the sale was a bad deal,”said. Glenn Griffiths, deputy directorof the DOEsite office at the Fernald facility. He said the alternative to the sale wasto declare the uranium a waste and face hugedisposal costs. Underthe sale agreement, neither the name of the buyer nor the specific sale price-can be made public forfive years, said Griffiths. Other departmentsourcessaid the companyis a foreign uranium fuel provider. There were contradictory explanations Friday on how much moneyactually was paid for the 978 metric tonsof uranium, which the buyer resells after it is diluted as commercialreactor fuel. Chairwoman Mary Frances Ber- ry. “Wehavea dutyto tell people our preliminary view based on what weheard, whatwe read and what we saw — as long as we makeclear that we will not make any final decisions until after all the evidence is assessed.” Commission Vice Chairman Cruz Reynoso said he was bothered by reports that someFlorida HOME and GARDEN FESTIVAL OTRO OUieeemCeeeCMeseeetm lyClLy w Among Findings @Based on new voter registration figures, key officials knew before Election Day that voter turnout would increase but did not ensure the precincts in all communities received adequate resources to meet their needs. WAtleast one unauthorized law enforcement checkpoint was set up on Election Day, restulting in complaints that were investigated by the Florida HighwayPatrol and the attorney general. @Nonfelons were re- moved from voter registra- tion rolls based on unreliable information collected in connection with statesponsored felony purge policies. @ Manyblacks did not cast ballots because they were assigned to polling sites that had inadequate resources to confirm eligibility. ™@ Many Jewish and elderly voters received defective and complicated ballots that may have produced “overvotes” and “undervotes.” lawmakers havesaid no serious problems occurred. The commission’s lone Republican said release of the comments was premature. 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