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Power outage has California lottery running on back-up generators
Sunday, January 06, 2008 posted 10:47 AM EST
SACRAMENTO - The California lottery disclosed Saturday night it was using emergency, backup electricity generators indefinitely
to run online gambling and other games statewide due to a power outage.
Lottery Director Joan Borucki assured gamblers that operations would remain "normal" but said "full conventional power to
all buildings may not be restored for some time."
The lottery was able to conduct Saturday night's Super-LOTTO Plus draw of winning numbers, for instance, officials said.
The outage, which began Friday afternoon, continued into Saturday night, making it the longest such occurrence that anyone
could recall befalling the lottery since games were launched in 1985. Lottery headquarters is located in the capital city
in Sacramento County - one of the regions Schwarzenegger declared a disaster area Saturday night due to storm damage. Complications
tied to the outage prevented restoration of regular power to a portion of the sprawling headquarters structure in a northern,
industrial suburb.
The policy-setting Lottery Commission announced it was moving a meeting scheduled for Wednesday to another location due to
conditions at headquarters.
Gambling analysts say any developments, such as this, tend to shake players' confidence in lottery operations.
But lottery spokesman Al Lundeen said that "everything essential, at this point, is operating as it should and we expect
that to continue."
The problem comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's aides revealed Saturday he has renewed interest in leasing the lottery
to a private contractor for a hefty, multibillion-dollar upfront sum as a major step in filling the state's current $14 billion
budget gap. Sales lag behind per-capita performances of many other state lotteries.
Schwarzenegger administration officials are working toward the governor's State of the State address Tuesday and his subsequent
pitch of a proposed 2008-09 budget to the Legislature in the face of a $14 billion budget deficit.
"No decisions have been made on the lottery as we are still developing our policy agenda for next year," said Schwarzenegger
spokesman Aaron McLear. "But the governor still firmly believes that licensing the lottery is in the best financial interest
of the people of California."
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