Eugene, Ore., Electricity Officials Prepare for Possible Blackouts

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Eugene, Ore., Electricity Officials Prepare for Possible Blackouts

Lance Robertson , The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.

( June 22, 2001 )

Jun. 20--Although the potential for California-style energy blackouts is diminishing in the Northwest, Eugene electric utility officials said Tuesday that they are preparing for the worst, just in case.

Eugene Water & Electric Board staff members briefed the utility's five-member elected board on plans to knock out power to various parts of the city in the event of a major energy supply shortage.

California has suffered through sporadic forced blackouts for nearly a year, and there is fear among energy experts that the shutdowns might spread north. More curtailments are expected in California this summer, that state's peak demand period.

But with energy prices moderating due to less demand and a slowly increasing supply of electricity throughout the West, the probability is low that there will be any rolling blackouts this summer in the Northwest.

"The outlook has become much better," said Jim Wiley, EWEB's electric division director.

However, "all this could change" by this winter if the drought continues and if the Northwest gets a lot of cold weather, Wiley added. That may leave the region short of power.

The Northwest Power Planning Council, which monitors energy supplies in the four-state region, estimates that there is a 17 percent probability of energy shortages this winter. While low, that still is three times the normal probability.

The federal Bonneville Power Administration, where EWEB and most other Northwest public utilities get the bulk of their electricity, would issue alerts of increasing magnitude as supplies become tighter.

A Stage 1 alert would be a warning that the region could face potential shortages. Eugene's utility would ask businesses and residents to voluntarily cut back on usage.

A Stage 2 alert would be called if demand comes within 5 percent of the available supply. That is within a margin that could trigger a shutdown of the transmission line grid that crisscrosses the West if a big spike in demand occurs. In that case, large industrial customers that have signed power-reduction agreements would shut down or curtail operations.

A Stage 3 alert would trigger a demand from Bonneville that all utilities move to rolling blackouts as a way to cut usage.

Eugene's utility has divided the city into four quadrants, with "blocks" in each quadrant divided geographically, according to Dave Koski, EWEB's electric operations manager. In the event of rolling blackouts, electricity to various blocks would be shut down for 90 minutes in the summer and 45 minutes in the fall and winter.

Hospitals, the airport and other critical electricity customers would be exempt from shutdowns.

The utility also is preparing an extensive communications plan that would alert the public, news media and emergency services agencies in the event of a blackout.

The public information effort also will involve explaining the emergency plans to the news media, public officials, neighborhood groups and other customers well in advance of any potential blackouts.

http://199.97.97.163/IMDS%PMAKRT0%read%/home/content/users/imds/feeds/knightridder/2001/06/22/krtbn/0000-0140-EU-ELECTRIC

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 22, 2001


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