Huntington Beach declares local state of emergency
Tariq Malik
California’s energy crisis is hitting Huntington Beach hard --
particularly in the wallet.
While the city has been trying to conserve energy by cutting back in
numerous ways, it isn’t enough. So far, the city has incurred about
$835,000 in penalties for using power during interruption periods --
$500,000 alone in December. During this time, the city is expected to
curtail its energy usage in return for lower electricity rates from
Southern California Edison.
In a special meeting Monday, the City Council approved further
measures to combat the energy problem, declaring a local state of
emergency to cut down on power costs.
During those periods, some City Hall operations may be relocated to
save electricity, though the Police Department and fire stations
shouldn’t be affected.
City officials hope to use a quiet, $224,500 power generator at the
Civic Center for electricity during interruption periods, as well as two
smaller generators, with a combined cost of $173,000, at the library.
The city is not the only agency affected by the interruption
penalties. City Administrator Ray Silver said the Boeing Co. has
experienced penalties of $1 million per day and $5,000 an hour at the
Waterfront Hilton Beach Resort.
But Huntington Beach, as well as the city of Fountain Valley, are
taking measures to cut power usage and are urging residents to do the
same.
Both cities have left comfort and convenience by the wayside to save
energy, turning off many lights, coffee makers and copy machines.
The power-saving measures are an answer to the energy crisis facing
California, where rolling blackouts have been threatening residents with
darkness for the past few weeks because of low energy reserves.
“The energy situation has really been a roller-coaster ride for the
city,” said Bill Workman, assistant city administrator for Huntington
Beach.
“We were notified that there would be a power shutdown [Jan. 11], but
the electricity didn’t go out thanks to some last-minute energy from
Canada,” he added.
Workman said most people seem to think the energy crisis isn’t real
because the electricity hasn’t been turned off yet, but it doesn’t hurt
to be prepared.
That point was driven home for some Fountain Valley residents at the
Crystal Springs apartment complex on Warner Avenue, which lost
electricity last weekend. At 10 p.m. Friday, about 200 Edison customers
went without power, some until late Sunday night.
Edison officials said the outage was not caused by a rolling blackout
but an electrical explosion of four nearby transformers.
Sgt. Jim Perry of the Fountain Valley Police Department said the
outage passed quietly, and Edison crews were able to restore all power by
Sunday night.
Because of the statewide energy crisis and the high prices Edison pays
for electricity before passing power on to steady-rate customers, the
utility has cut employee overtime hours to save money for energy
purchases.
Surf City officials said the Civic Center and Central Library are two
big energy-eaters and extraneous things, such as signs and decorative
fountains, aren’t operating to conserve power.
At the Central Library, employees have been arriving at work wearing
three and four layers of clothes because the heating has been turned off,
as well as half of the library’s computers and any unneeded lighting.
“It’s dark, and it’s cold,” said Ron Hayden, the city’s library
services director. “But compared to other things in life, the cold is
just a minor inconvenience.”
Through its conservation efforts, he said, the Central Library has
managed to go from using 475 kilowatts each day to 199 kilowatts.
However, at the Hilton, power conservation has added a romantic flair
to the hotel’s atmosphere.
“Much of the hotel is on emergency power, so the hallways are lit at
minimal standards, and we’ve cut out all unnecessary lighting, boilers,
chillers . . . anything we can without taking direct services away from
the customer,” said John Gilbert, the hotel’s general manager. “But that
way, when people come to us at night, most of the lighting will be candle
lit.”
The hotel typically uses 900 kilowatts a day but has cut back to
between 200 and 300 kilowatts, he said.
Fountain Valley officials said they have been looking for all possible
ways to save energy.
“The lights in all our traffic signals are [light-emitting diodes],
which save energy and about $35,000 a year in energy costs, and we’re
making sure that our lighted recreation fields aren’t on when the area is
unused,” said Fountain Valley City Manager Ray Kromer.
He said the city recently received a grant from Edison to retrofit
lighting in city-owned buildings.
The Orange County Sanitation District continues to treat and pump 240
million gallons of waste water each day and has reduced its power
consumption to zero at its Fountain Valley processing plant. The plant
draws energy from generators powered by the combustion of gases produced
from treating waste water. Similarly, the Huntington Beach water yard
uses a propane-powered generator for electricity.
City officials in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach are encouraging
residents and businesses to cut their own energy usage by 5% to 10%.
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