Feeling the heat: With summer on horizon, power crisis could worsen

Friday, March 23, 2001 | 5:11 a.m.

Nevada's summers are always long and painfully hot. This one could be even worse.

In the midst of what federal and state officials are calling the worst energy crisis in almost three decades, the hot weather will only make matters worse: Sky-rocketing bills already are hitting businesses and homeowners hard.

Even those who thought they did a good job holding the line on heating costs are finding that they can do more to save on energy bills.

Michele Morgan and Phillip Devore, a married couple living in the northwest valley, recently conducted an energy audit of their home.

Nevada Power Co. employees easily found a half-dozen things that could cut up to 25 percent from Morgan and Devore's $500 monthly electric bills.

"Your average person thinks they're doing a great job (at saving energy)," Morgan said. "But you just don't know."

For some people, high bills are the least of their worries. Agencies such as the Clark County Health District and the Emergency Management Agency are preparing response plans for a worst-case scenario: blackouts similar to the ones that hit California last week.

In that state rolling blackouts darkened traffic lights, computers, factories and automated teller machines as the year's first heat wave showed just what air conditioners can do to the Golden State's power grid.

And Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham warned last week that California's power problems could spread to other states. Blackouts would be a disaster for Nevada, where the temperature can easily reach 110 degrees in the summer.

Clark County emergency management and health district officials are particularly concerned about the elderly and infants, or those people who have existing medical conditions or difficulty moving.

"The health district is taking this very seriously," Jane Shunney, assistant to the chief health officer, said.

In the region's searing heat, even a couple of hours without air conditioning and proper hydration can be dangerous, she said.

The health district is preparing a plan for this worst-case scenario. A preliminary version should be ready by May, Shunney said.

Other officials said they also are preparing for the worst.

"We're going to do everything we can to be as prepared as we can be," emergency management Director Bob Andrews said.

Meetings next month will bring together county, Red Cross and public-information teams, Andrews said.

Cool shelters will be ready, and the agency will work with the media to warn people in the event blackouts can't be avoided, he said.

People will have to be ready to seek those shelters and help others who may not be able to get around, Andrews said.

"It's up to people to help themselves," he said. "As a practical measure, I don't know how else you could address the situation."

The good news is that Nevada Power officials say they have enough guaranteed power to get through the summer -- absent a significant disruption of power lines or a summer that is a lot longer or a lot hotter than normal.

Still, everyone from Gov. Kenny Guinn to local power company linemen are saying conservation will be key to surviving the summer unscathed. Not only will conserving energy help prevent the worst-case scenario, but for many it has become a financial necessity.

The most recent electric rate increase for just under 18 percent was approved in February. But that increase came after a year of smaller rate adjustments.

A typical residential bill of $200 a month could be more than $250 this summer, officials warn.

Conservation efforts are picking up among homeowners, government agencies and even casinos. But Steve Boss, Nevada Energy Buyers Network president, said not everyone understands how much skyrocketing energy prices will hurt residents and businesses.

"I don't know that the message has sunk in yet," Boss said. "One problem that we've had is that we've had very modest increases every month since August."

As power use naturally decreases in Las Vegas during the cooler winter months, people haven't seen a huge one-time jump in power bills. That will change, Boss predicted.

Big users

According to the Nevada Gaming Commission, the 37 casinos on the Strip paid almost $131 million for electric power in 2000. Their bills could jump substantially, and many will begin seeing the difference this summer, Boss said.

"The average commercial customer -- they're going to see prices 40 (percent) to 50 percent higher than last summer," Boss said. "That's going to come as a shock to a lot of people."

Boss is working with casinos -- which use huge amounts of power -- to buy guaranteed future amounts of electricity and natural gas. He also is working with a short list of industrial clients to institute aggressive conservation measures.

"We would think that with an aggressive conservation program, the average commercial customer should be able to reduce consumption by 10 to 20 percent," he said.

Conservation at the larger casinos can be tricky for several reasons, Boss said. One is that they can have several meters.

"A lot of times you can't tell what equipment is on what meter," he said. "You need information before you start controlling your usage."

But only so much can be done to cut energy use in an industry virtually defined by bright lights.

Harvey Whittemore, legislative counsel for the Nevada Resort Association, said it would be a mistake to change the character of Las Vegas in an effort to save electricity.

Nevertheless, "Every resort is committed to having their people looking at ways to save power," he said.

Most casinos already were looking to find ways to save power before the crisis began percolating last summer, Whittemore and others said.

Efficiency has been a longtime goal for casinos because power already was one of the biggest bottom-line expenses, according to Alan Feldman, MGM MIRAGE vice president of public affairs.

"We have always tried to be as efficient as possible, whenever possible," he said. "All we are doing right now is redoubling our efforts."

One issue that can't be compromised is safety. That means not only keeping the lights burning bright in public areas, but in back-of-house areas where lights are needed for maintenance or engineering purposes.

"We're looking at creating these savings in areas where it doesn't jeopardize those kinds of issues," Whittemore said.

Even a small change can make a big difference, Feldman said. For example, reducing the wattage of light bulbs in rooms might not seem like a big deal, but "when you're talking about 5,000 rooms, that's obviously a substantial savings."

Public agencies also are trying to conserve. Clark County's challenge is to institute cuts at more than 800 buildings and structures and thousands of metered objects such as traffic lights. Don Burnette, county administrative services director, said he has to look at more than 3,500 meters over a territory larger than some states.

The county is trying to get a better idea of where the power is going, he said. One "frustrating discovery" Burnette recently made is that Nevada Power does not break down the bill from meter sources, but bills the county just one, large number.

Boss said the issue isn't just a problem for governments, but is a concern for any large user.

"For larger users, the biggest problems they have is not knowing how much electricity they are using," he said.

Last year the county's bill for electricity was about $10 million. For the last half-year, the bill has been about $6 million, and that continues to rise, Burnette said.

"We're trying to come to grips with how much we're consuming," Burnette said. "We must do a better job of measuring."

Like other institutional users, Burnette's department is breaking down conservation efforts into three classes:

* No-cost, quick things people can do such as turning off lights when they aren't in a room.

* Low-cost measures that can help save electricity, such as replacing incandescent lights with cooler, lower-power florescent bulbs that provide the same amount of light.

* Larger expenditures with the goal of saving significant amounts of power over the long term. "We're looking at how to better build facilities and how to upgrade the ones that we are in now," Burnette said.

At McCarran International Airport, officials are taking a similar approach.

Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker said increased costs for electricity and natural gas will drain about $1.5 million more from his budget in the next fiscal year, to a total of $8 million.

"Of course, that's just anticipating what costs will be," he said. The actual costs could be much higher.

During the past decade the airport has been aggressive in reducing power usage, but more can be done, Walker said. One big project is upgrading the heating and cooling systems to promote efficiency.

Many big users are finding that the escalating costs of energy have made expensive upgrades affordable, Walker and others said. McCarran is just one example.

"We're doing all of those kind of things where we can," Walker said. "We're a very big energy user."

Smaller scale

On the other end of the usage scale, homeowners also are feeling the bite.

Morgan and Devore said they have felt it. They shoulder $500 electric bills and $300 natural gas bills during the summer months.

Jim Nolan, a Nevada Power customer-energy consultant, audited usage at their home in a middle-class subdivision.

"I would like to save 50 percent if possible, but if we could cut off 25 percent, that would be a big savings," Morgan said.

Nolan gave her some tips that should match or come close to the 25 percent figure. Among the suggestions:

* Change energy-hungry halogen bulbs in the basement office with miserly florescent lights.

* Put in ceiling fans over the common areas to help air flow and reduce air-conditioning costs.

* Put in a timer on the swimming pool pump to use it during cooler hours, which will make the pump more efficient.

* Program the automatic thermostat to adjust heating and cooling to avoid simply pushing the temperature up and down.

* Apply heat-shielding film to all the windows in what would possibly be the most energy-saving measure, Nolan told the couple. The covering is virtually clear but can have a big effect on the bills, he said.

Taking these easy steps can easily save most households anywhere from 5 percent to 25 percent on their total bills, Nolan said.

Morgan said she will take Nolan's advice. Some things, such as how easy it is to program the thermostat, came as a surprise to her.

But will it be enough?

State Consumer Advocate Tim Hay is worried the steps that governments, industry and individuals take will not be enough to stave off the shock of high bills and even the threat of blackouts.

Most of these steps are "boiler-plate conservation measures," which can be important but might not be enough, he said.

Hay said he accepts Nevada Power's assurances that supplies are adequate but believes backup plans should be in place.

He said the Public Utilities Commission should discuss several steps in the coming months. One would be a voluntary program in which industrial or large commercial users could shut down during peak hours and get a rebate for those hours of suspended operations.

Another possibility is allowing industrial users, such as casinos, to go off the grid for periods, sustained by their in-house emergency backup generators.

He said state agencies have to discuss such measures now. Later might be too late.

"We need to have a comprehensive roster of strategies in case we face more serious shortfalls than we have in the past," he said.

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