LV ice rink cuts hours to cope with energy costs

Grace Leong

Wednesday, June 6, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

Soaring electricity costs have prompted one of Las Vegas's four ice skating rinks to cut its operating hours.

Bob Wessels, owner of the Las Vegas Ice Garden, said he's cutting the rink's hours because power costs have soared in general and because of higher rates imposed on businesses by Nevada Power Co. during the hot afternoons in the summer months.

A 27 cents per kilowatt hour premium is charged to businesses between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. between June 1 and Oct. 1, in addition to the usual 12 cent per kilowatt-hour charge for that period, said Wessels.

Sonya Headen, a Nevada Power spokeswoman, said the premium is imposed only on large businesses that use more than 3,900 kilowatts a month.

"This premium isn't new. We've been imposing it for about 10-15 years now. Between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. from June through September, that's the most expensive time for Nevada Power to buy power in the open market. So we try to encourage energy conservation by imposing this rate," she said.

The premium and the generally higher electricity rates, which Wessels said could cause the rink's power bills to soar 76 percent in summer, prompted him to close the rink from 1 p.m. through 6 p.m. starting June 1. The rink will now operate from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 7 p.m. through midnight. In the past, the rink was open from 6 a.m. through midnight.

"Currently, we are charged a little over 10 cents per kilowatt-hour for normal consumption from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and about 12 cents from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. After 7 p.m., it drops back to 10 cents again," he said. "Last year, the electricity rates were about 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for normal consumption during the off-peak period and the rates during the peak period of 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. were about 6.78 cents."

"Typically, we use 130,000 kilowatts a month. Last year, prior to going into the peak period which starts in May, our bill was $8,300 per month. This year in May, our bill is about $10,000 or 20 percent higher," Wessels said. "Last year, our power bill in the summer period was about $17,000 per month. This year, with the premiums, it will be about $30,000 per month. With the energy conservation measures, we hope to hold the bill at $20,000-$22,000 per month in summer."

Wessels said he could lose business from public and freestyle skaters who usually practice in the afternoon.

"Generally we have about 3,000 customers to 5,000 a week. This summer, with the reduced hours, our growth will likely stay flat."

"The shortened day-time opening hours create a hardship for some of our customers, especially the free stylers, who skate daily and work on this as a sport, and young students just out of school between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.," he said. "To make up for the inconvenience, we have several coaches who can offer more services in the morning and early evenings to students at an economical price and we also plan to hold more hockey tournaments because these pay more, and tend to be held more in the early morning or late evening."

To make up for lost business, Wessels said he is even considering turning the rink into a government standby storage center for bodies in the event of an aircraft disaster.

Wessels said the 60,000 square-foot rink, at 3896 Swenson Street, is an ideal candidate to be an emergency storage center for the government because of its proximity to McCarran International airport.

Wessels said he is considering other measures to conserve energy.

"To improve insulation, we've taken out some glass in the buildings and installed metal doors with several barriers. Reduced access to buildings helps preserve air condition and coldness in arena," he said. "When we shave ice from the rink and use hot water heaters to melt the trimmed snow, we do it in the evening so as not to generate too much heat. And from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., we turn off the lights, and cut back on the number of compressors (which keep the building and rink floor cold) used to one from four."

Higher energy prices have three other Las Vegas Valley ice skating rinks also considering energy conservation alternatives. But for now, the three will not reduce their day-time operating hours.

Athletic Arts Academy, a 7,200-square-foot rink at 6150 Annie Oakley Drive, said it is trying to avoid reducing its opening hours in the afternoon because its class schedules for summer camps are heaviest in late afternoon and early evening. The rink is open from 11 a.m. through 8 p.m.

John Crosson, Athletic Art's manager, said the rink's compressors will be shut down for an additional four to six hours in the day.

"The ice floor is usually kept at a temperature of about 19 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the compressors are shut down, the temperature could rise to 22-23 degrees, and then the compressors will come back on again," he said. "Also if the ice floor, which is normally an inch and a half to two inches in width, is kept thinner to about one inch, the compressors won't have to work so hard to keep the rink cold."

Crosson said such measures won't compromise the skaters' safety, but are expected to keep the rink's monthly power bills down to $2,500-$3,000 from $3,000-$3,500 otherwise.

And the Las Vegas Sports Park, at 1400 North Rampart Boulevard, which has a 22,000-square-foot ice rink, also won't cut its hours because the sports park, "offers many diversified sporting activities and can therefore afford to keep the rink open," said Mike Talkington, general manager.

"We're not reducing our day-time hours because we have events already booked up. We have Camp Las Vegas, a summer camp that rents the rink from June 18 through Aug. 24, for ice skating activities from 8:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.. After 1 p.m., Clark County Parks and Recreation uses the rink to teach children how to skate," he said.

Talkington said the rink's power bills could also be cut by about 30 percent because the sports park is acquiring its own power generator and using diesel fuel for it instead of getting power from Nevada Power.

"We can buy our own generator to produce the amps we need and just switch to that generator during peak hours."

Santa Fe Station Ice Arena will maintain its current opening hours even as the hotel-casino looks to implement company-wide energy conservation programs, said a spokeswoman for owner Station Casinos Inc.

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