Cold front approaches as power crisis looms By Lukas Velush The Desert Sun December 7th, 2000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s usually hot temperatures and overworked air conditioners that lead to power shortages in the Coachella Valley and all of Southern California.

But it could be an arctic front currently moving south over the Pacific Coast states that will lead to California’s first-ever Stage Three power shortage, possibly today, on Friday or this weekend.

A Stage Three alert means electrical providers such as Southern California Edison will have to turn off the power to groups of homes and businesses for one hour at a time until the power shortage ends.

And although most California homes are not heated with electricity, this rare winter electrical shortage is tied to using electricity for heating, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison.

That’s because electrical heating is used, and currently in short supply, in Oregon and Washington, where 20 percent of California’s power comes from.

“We still need their 20 percent, they just can’t provide it,” he said.

Wednesday was the third straight day that California has had a Stage Two alert, a previously unheard of condition brought on by booming growth in California and a lack of power plants to keep up with the growth.

A Stage Two alert means customers are asked to cut their power use, and businesses that signed up for lower rates are being asked to reduce their power use during the alerts.

State power officials are warning that additional power shortages could happen at any time over the next 10 days.

And with a cold front moving over the entire state, a weekend of cooler temperatures appears in the offing.

“There is a definite arctic front heading in,” said Gregg Potter, a meteorologist with Widespread Weather Services in Palm Desert. “Statewide, it will definitely be colder the farther north you go.”

In the Coachella Valley, highs that have been in the mid-70s and lows that have been in the low 50s will be replaced over the weekend with highs in the upper 60s and lows from the low 30s to low 40s, Potter said.

Businesses in the Coachella Valley have been coping with the State Two alerts by finding creative ways to reduce their power use.

“We are converting all of our ground and landscape lighting to lower voltage bulbs,” said Doug Yavanian, director of community affairs for La Quinta Resort & Club. “We think this first step for us is really going to make a difference.”

Steve Craft, chief engineer at the Palm Desert Courtyard by Marriott and at the Palm Desert Residence Inn by Marriott, said staff have been trying to reduce power use by shutting down hotel wings when the two hotels aren’t full.

“We’re trying to do it without having a big guest impact,” Craft said. “We haven’t had any effect on our customers.”

Other Coachella Valley residents want to see growth in the valley scaled back until there is enough power to sustain it.

“I got my candles out, ” said John Maltbie, a Palm Desert resident

http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/local/976154495.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 07, 2000