Lights could go out at any time

Mathis Winkler and Jennifer Kho

NEWPORT MESA -- With the state’s energy crisis so bad that the federal

government has had to step in and force power producers to sell

electricity to California, officials said Thursday that it’s not really a

question whether blackouts will happen in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa,

but when.

“I think more than anything else, [residents] need to get used to the

idea that it is going to occur,” said Newport Beach City Manager Homer

Bludau, adding that if nowhere else, possible power outages would affect

people driving on the city’s streets.

While crucial organizations -- such as police and fire departments, as

well as hospitals and jails -- would be exempt from an outage, traffic

lights would not, Bludau said.

“What we would see immediately would be traffic and intersections

totally congested,” Bludau said.

Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan said his city is in the same

situation.

“I know that about a year ago we bought all new generator equipment

because of Y2K,” Monahan said. “If the power goes out, City Hall goes on.

Emergency services are on schedule because Y2K got us prepared for

anything to happen. But traffic lights are a problem because there are so

many of them.”

Southern California Edison officials said that while a blackout was

unlikely in the immediate future, the California Independent Systems

Operator, which decides whether to call for blackouts, could do so at any

time.

A blackout could occur when the operator calls for a Stage 3 emergency

after power reserves drop below 1.5%. A Stage 2 emergency was in place

Thursday and was expected to last until about 10 p.m.

At the request of the California Independent Systems Operator,

Southern California Edison could interrupt service for those customers at

Stage 2, but did not expect to Thursday, said Steve Hansen, Edison’s

spokesman.

Edison declared a Stage 3 warning briefly Dec. 7, but did not have to

interrupt service, he said.

“We could have as few as 10 minutes” before getting the notice to

initiate blackouts, said Kim Scherer, a region manager for the company

who oversees operations in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. “It really

depends on what’s going on in the system at any particular point in

time.”

Scherer added that a combination of power plants turned off for

maintenance, cold weather in the Northwest and increased power demand due

to holiday lights had led to the shortage.

She said the rolling blackouts probably would last an hour. Blackouts

would continue until the system’s stability was guaranteed.

Bludau said the city had talked with the company during the summer,

when city officials expected blackouts to take place.

“I think we really sensitized ourselves to the situation,” Bludau

said, adding that the city already did everything it could to conserve

energy.

While city officials will probably receive advance notice from the

power company to prepare police services for the blackout, the general

public will not be directly notified.

FYI

Things to do to prevent and prepare for a blackout:

* If notified that a shortage is probable, take steps to reduce

electricity during the peak time, which is 5 to 7 p.m. during the winter.

Use washing machines and dishwashers during off-peak hours and wait to

turn on holiday lights until after 8 p.m.

* Reduce thermostats to 68 degrees.

* Businesses should prepare for possible blackouts, especially

retailers relying on electronic purchasing.

* Employers should ensure that employees are trained in emergency

procedures and that they know what is expected of them during an

emergency.

* Drive carefully during peak hours in the event controlled outages

occur. Signals will go dark, and intersections will convert to four-way

stops.

* Discuss emergency arrangements with child-care providers in the

event an outage prevents you from picking up your children on time.

* Monitor the situation throughout the workday to be sure you are

prepared.

Updated information can be found at https://www.sce.com

Source: Newport Beach Fire Department.

For more information, call (949) 644-3109.