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%.