Blackout policy put in place: Nevada Power may alert public on outages

Friday, July 6, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.

Nevada Power has delivered plans to public safety agencies identifying what areas would be hit if the company needs to cut power.

The company had to suddenly cut power to some circuits in the Las Vegas Valley on Monday in response to record demand and energy shortages throughout the western United States.

About 10,000 customers lost power for 45 minutes in the first rolling blackouts to hit Southern Nevada since the beginning of the power crisis in the West, which started in California in the fall.

Nevada Power Vice President Paul Heagen said public safety agencies should have been warned before the cuts came, and the company erred in not giving the plans to those agencies earlier. The plans would have identified what parts of the valley would be affected through maps that outline the circuit areas.

Several parts of the urban area were affected by the cuts.

"Where I feel like we fell short, we should have had the plan in the hands of the 911 operators," he said.

Heagen said the company would have provided advance warning of the blackouts, but the crisis was unforeseen and escalated within a matter of minutes.

Metro Police Capt. Marc Maston said officers, especially traffic patrols, can use prior notification. They didn't get it Monday.

Police, he said, would put additional manpower at busy intersections where street lights are out. A primary concern for police during the blackouts is traffic safety.

Maston called for people to treat darkened traffic lights as four-way stops, and for people to be especially courteous and patient if blackouts hit an intersection. He said the reported lack of serious injuries during Monday's blackouts meant the area "dodged a bullet."

He chalked up the lack of injuries to good driving habits, response by the traffic police and luck.

"Our drivers showed good judgment, and with the help of public safety we were able to get through it without anyone getting hurt," he said.

Nevada Power said a policy that will stay in place, at least for now, is one that avoids notifying the public of where the blackouts would occur.

Heagen cited several reasons for the policy:

* Announcing the affected areas could draw criminals to the neighborhoods;

* Circuits in the Las Vegas areas can be large and irregular, making it difficult to explain where the edges of the affected area are;

* Prior notification might discourage people from outside the affected areas from saving energy.

"We all have a stake in the game," Heagen said.

Maston, with the police, said he believes that keeping the blackout areas under wraps is a good idea.

Not everyone agrees. Bob Andrews, director of Clark County emergency management, said he'd like the residential and business customers to get as much prior notification as possible -- a policy that is in place in California.

"I think it's a good idea," Andrews said. "Nevada Power has (its) reasons, and I'm not quarreling with that, but I think there is a lot of anxiety in people that could be better handled with a lot of information.

"What they've done in California ought to serve as a guide for us," he said.

Nevada Consumer Advocate Tim Hay agreed. Hay said letting people know if they are likely to face a blackout if electricity gets tight gives them time to prepare.

"Ultimately, a consumer is better prepared if they know they are going to be without power," Hay said.

Hay said the advance notice policy in California -- implemented over the objections of utility companies by executive order of Gov. Gray Davis -- hasn't led to a recorded increase in crime, although the experience in the Golden State is limited to just one instance of rolling blackouts since the policy started.

Heagen said it is possible that the company will notify the public. It is an issue that will be discussed with emergency management and public safety officials, he said.

The company had several pieces of good news Thursday. One is that blackouts don't appear to be imminent, thanks to a softer energy market, better conservation by consumers and repairs to generators in Southern Nevada.

The other good news is for consumers who lost power Monday. They probably won't soon see another blackout.

"They now go to the bottom of the list," said Glenda McCartney, Nevada Power director of corporate communications.

Some power circuits won't feel the bite of blackouts at all. Those power hospitals, jails, communication facilities, 911 centers, utilities and elderly care centers, McCartney said.

But other circuits throughout the valley provide power to residential and business customers. Blocks of those circuits, in 50-megawatt units, could be cut if the company reaches a "condition red" again.

One megawatt is about enough power for 500 homes in Las Vegas during the summer months when air conditioners are operating.

McCartney said no areas should experience a blackout for longer than an hour, and circuits are selected so that no one large area, such as the city of Henderson, will be completely dark.

That minimizes the effect on large parts of the valley, she said.