Classes Canceled as Colleges Seek to Avoid Power Usage Penalties

School administrators canceled classes at College of the Canyons and CalArts in Valencia and at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster on Monday, under a utility rate plan that offers them big savings for shutting down during periods of heavy power usage--or big fines for staying open.

Both colleges participate in a Southern California Edison Co. plan that gives them lower rates in exchange for their willingness to cut power usage voluntarily during periods when heavy usage threatens to create brownouts on the power grid. The California Independent System Operator declared a Stage 2 emergency Monday.

School administrators canceled classes and sent thousands of students home from the College of the Canyons when power outage alarms rang about 1:30 p.m., the seventh time this year, college spokeswoman Sue Bozman said. The service interruptions, once rare, came five times during a sultry two-week period in August, she said.

In the last five years, the school had been asked only once to cut its power, she said. It could have been charged as much as $60,000 for not shutting down, Bozman said.

“For several years, we saved $100,000 a year by being on this interruptible service plan,” said Bozman, who with other school administrators finished the workday with mobile phones and portable computers. “But when the alarm rings and we decline to turn off our power, it’s a whole different ballgame. We lose money on the big fines.”

A unit of electrical power that normally costs the college 6.2 cents costs 145 times as much when the school refuses to abide by the interruption agreement during an outage, Bozman said. One such day in May cost the college $30,000 in penalties. Administrators also refused to shut down in August, during summer finals, and again last Wednesday.

“We can’t kick the students out in the middle of exams,” Bozman said. “Sometimes we have no choice but to pay up.”

Edison on Monday also scheduled outages for California Institute of the Arts and Antelope Valley College, both of which sent students home in the afternoon.

Monday’s call to power down was more convenient than earlier shutdowns at Antelope Valley College, spokesman Steve Standerfer said. Administrators figured on a few three- to four-hour closures when they signed up for the cheap rates, he said.

“We’ve ended up having to pay a bunch of money to our utility company,” said Standerfer, who added that electricity costs jump from $100 an hour to $10,000 an hour when the school doesn’t comply with voluntary interruptions.

“But we have to look at this on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes, like today, which is not a critical time, we can turn off our power, save some money and it does not hurt us too much. That’s how it is most years.”

Edison spokesman Steve Hansen said all the company’s clients whose service can be interrupted were asked to shut down because of a strain on the power grid in Northern California.

“It’s all because this has been an unusually hot summer and a good economy,” Hansen said. “Last summer, which was very cool, we had only one Stage 2 emergency. This summer we’ve had 17. When it’s hot and the economy is going gangbusters like it is, demand for electricity goes up.”

Hansen said he expects more voluntary outages today and Wednesday.

The William S. Hart Union High School District, for the second time this year, refused to close or turn off electricity to its four high schools. District business manager Bill Maddigan said the plan, which can save the district $160,000 in a cool year, may not be worth continuing.

“We thought it would be a big saver for us,” Maddigan said. “And it is, when you’re only asked to turn power off one or two days [a year], but not when it’s five or six times. Through mid-August, our penalties amounted to $55,000. As it happens, I am sure we will discuss what we want to do with this agreement first thing [this] morning.”

Although all the school representatives said the cheap rates have helped their schools in most years, officials with College of the Canyons and the Hart school district say they may reconsider their power contracts when they are up for renewal in November.

Bozman said College of the Canyons’ administration “will be taking a very close look and reevaluating whether the program is working.”

Universal Studios, another company whose service can be interrupted, has its own power emergency plan that includes a combination of savings and penalties, said Eliot Sekuler, Universal’s director of public relations. The company turns off air-conditioning and some lights in its administrative buildings and postpones maintenance work to off-peak hours, he said. Although Universal cuts down on usage, it pays a penalty rate for the public areas, such as the amphitheater and theme park.

“We will pay what we have to, do what we have to to stay open to the public,” Sekuler said.

Temperatures have topped 100 degrees five of the last six days. On Monday, a student at Montclair High School in Van Nuys apparently suffered heat exhaustion and was taken by helicopter to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, city Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. A hospital spokesman said the 14-year-old boy was treated with fluids for dehydration and released.

Heavy power use was also suspected in an outage in Reseda and Northridge about 3 p.m. Power to about 2,000 residents and businesses, as well as some traffic lights, was restored about 6 p.m., said Darlene Battle, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.