California officials won't play 'Grinch' with holiday lights

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Last holiday season, Californians were asked to conserve power by forgoing festive light displays, or at least turning them on later in the evening. This year's holidays should be a little brighter.

The conservation effort last fall helped stave off blackouts when the state's power reserves dropped to about 1 percent in December. But those measures won't be necessary this year.

"We understand it's going to be a very special holiday season and we're not asking people to do without holiday lights," said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid.

"We don't want to put a damper on everyone's spirits" following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she said. Power operators would not, however, discourage Californians from dimming the lights during periods of peak demand.

Holiday lighting displays in the state add approximately 1,000 megawatts of consumption -- about equal to the production of a nuclear power plant. Last year, that alarmed grid managers who were scouring the West to find enough energy to keep the lights on.

Short ceremony

Gov. Gray Davis presided over the state's official Christmas tree-lighting ceremony last year -- only to immediately switch off the lights to save power. Throughout the holiday season, tree lights were turned on after 7 p.m., when power needs typically drop.

State officials haven't decided if the 50-foot Christmas tree at the state Capitol will be on a more traditional schedule this year, with the lights turned on at dusk, said David Osborne, spokesman for the State and Consumer Services Agency.

In San Diego, Darla Davis, spokeswoman for Sea World, said the theme park would light its Christmas tree next week. Last year, the tree was lit on a limited schedule, but the hours will be expanded this year, she said.

"We are still very conscious of our energy use," Davis said. "If we need to, if they put out a warning, we'll cut back."

Though the Independent System Operator says about 11,000 megawatts are unavailable due to power plant maintenance, grid managers are meeting the demand for electricity. One megawatt is roughly enough power for 750 homes.

Last year's power problems were complicated by financial issues, with generators fearing that they wouldn't be paid if they sold power to California utilities that were on the brink of bankruptcy. Since then, the state has stepped in to buy power for customers of three utilities and federal regulators have implemented an order that requires generators to bid into the California market.

Market stabilized

State officials also say long-term energy contracts have stabilized the volatile energy market and conservation efforts have reduce demand for power.

"If conservation continues at the same clip, we'll manage," McCorkle said. "We do have a dependence on the curtailed load. Now we're counting on consumers conserving, so we do hope they'll keep it up."

But the long-term contracts may cause more trouble in the future, according to a state analysis obtained by the Los Angeles Times for Friday's editions. California may have bought more power than it needed to meet demand, and the surplus purchased at high prices could cost ratepayers as much as $3.9 billion over the next nine years, the Department of Water Resources said.

Energy purchased at an average price of $75 per megawatt-hour will be going for an average of $16 next year, the report said. The projections bolster critics' claims that the long-term contracts would lock ratepayers at a fixed price for energy that may not be used.