| By Daniel B. Wood Staff writer
of The Christian Science Monitor
REDONDO BEACH,
CALIF.
Jerry Van
Eimeren is draining his hot tub. Greta and Joel Farnsworth are
removing the halogen stake lights that ring their lawn. Jose Ramirez
is buying backup generators for his dry-cleaning business.
"The
bubble-jets circulating water through my jacuzzi were socking
my energy bill so hard I am pulling the plug on them for now,"
says Mr. Van Eimeren, a website designer. "I'm also realizing
that for every watt of power I use, someone else in the state
may have to do without."
The prospect
of rolling blackouts across California - expected to intensify
with the advent of hotter weather in May - is bringing citizens
and communities together to stare down a common foe: uncertain
electrical supplies.
As legislators
finagle over the fine points of energy policy, electricity customers
are hammered at daily, through newspaper and TV ads, to voluntarily
cut total electricity use by 10 percent. Ideas include doing laundry
in off-peak hours and unplugging that "wasteful" second
refrigerator in the garage.
And Gov. Gray
Davis promises that people who cut their electricity use 20 percent
this summer over last year's level will get 20 percent off their
electric bills.
Plied by such
ads and incentives - and unsure how the crisis will play out -
citizens and cities are scrambling to be ready for the unannounced
moment when some faceless bureaucrat flips a switch that plunges
them into temporary darkness.
"One
of the more unsettling things about this crisis has been the fact
that we can't give people a whole lot of notice," says Steve
Hanson, spokesman for Southern California Edison. Most of the
reason is that utilities don't actually know when peak usage will
force them to resort to blackouts, although concern about crime
also is a reason officials don't announce blackout "schedules"
in advance. "Sometimes, it might be as little as 10 minutes'
notice," says Mr. Hanson.
That's not
very reassuring to dentists about to drill, restaurants with soufflés
to chill, and motorists with empty gas tanks to fill. But like
the state's encounters with drought, freeze, and earthquakes in
the 1990s, the current crunch is also being seen as a crisis full
of opportunity.
"Like
the Y2K computer threat that the nation scurried to prepare for,
this is a major prescription for civic readiness that is waking
people up, letting them know what is really at stake and what
they can do about it," says Dallas Jones, head of the California
Office of Emergency Services.
The state
already has had one long round of practice drills. In late March
- with electricity use still only 50 percent of summer peak -
the state's power grid was so stressed that officials cut power
to 50,000 customers in 40 California cities, darkening schools,
hospitals, and traffic signals.
Prepping for
outages
No one was
cut off for more than two hours straight, say authorities. But
the problems that arose then have led to months of preparation
for summer.
• Sacramento
officials have approved the installation of six wading pools to
lure residents out of air-conditioned homes with the offer of
alternative relief.
• Santa
Monica officials are notifying residents to carry extra gasoline
in their cars and get extra cash from ATMs - two electricity-dependent
services that have created hassles in recent blackouts.
• Several
cities, including Modesto and Laguna Hills, have already identified
the worst intersections where stoplights go out, and are laying
plans to deploy traffic officers there if a blackout happens again.
Other cities are readying plastic stop signs to put into place
at the most dangerous crossroads.
On Internet
websites, advice and admonitions abound. In a pinch, frozen peas
work just as well as ice to cool you down, says Modesto. Don't
push the pedal to the metal at intersections with no police or
working lights, warns San Francisco. Turn off unneeded lights,
reset heating and cooling thermostats, switch off computers, and
use drapes to trap cool air inside at night and let out warm air
during the day, say others.
"People
are looking into energy use with a kind of vigor that they never
have before, both to help out the general situation but also to
save themselves a bundle," says Linda Yamauchi, consumer
affairs director for Southern California Edison. "We're actually
quite thrilled by that."
In many parts
of the state, energy costs have tripled, and in some cases gone
even higher. Moreover, the likelihood of an extended period of
high prices seems greater.
By most accounts,
the state's electric utilities are doing their share of consciousness-raising,
too. Many have extensive websites that answer questions such as
how to install a generator properly, and they are reaching out
to customers most at risk from outages, such as elderly patients
who rely on breathing machines or other healthcare appliances.
"We are
visiting medical facilities, as well as notifying others to let
them know of the importance of preparing for these situations,"
says Ms. Yamauchi. "We are letting them know to have their
own backups ready and not to rely on us."
Peeved - and
worse
Among the
electricity-using public, reaction to all of this ranges from
mild inconvenience to strong irritation.
"I'm
a little upset that this whole deregulation thing has come out
of the blue," says the hot-tubless Van Eimeren. At the mall
he just visited, every other row of overhead lighting is turned
off. The local car dealer keeps exterior lights turned off, with
the unintended consequence that no one can tell if the dealership
is open.
While acknowledging
that energy conservation makes sense, consumer groups are warning
that how users respond here could affect reliability and price
problems in other states.
"Conservation
will help, but it won't dig us out of the hole we are in,"
says Michael Shames of the Utility Consumers' Action Network in
San Diego. To avoid what he calls "long-term manipulation
of California's electricity market" by the major electric
producers, he aims to form consumers into a buyers' cartel.
He also is
calling for changes in the way blackouts are implemented. "Blackouts
can be organized" so customers get "sufficient notice,"
Mr. Shames says. "The benefits of knowing when the power
will be turned off are considerable. Increased crime risks can
be offset by targeted police deployment."
One last idea
consumer groups such as Shames's are pushing is state purchase
of thousands of new, efficient air-conditioners. Under the plan,
youth groups, utility employees, and other volunteers would move
systematically through the hot, central valleys of California,
replacing old air conditioners.
"California
is not alone, just ahead of the curve," says Shames. "If
weather does not cooperate, there may be similar problems in New
England and the Midwest."
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