Plan Sheds Light on Handling Blackouts at Center

No coffee makers or clock radios unless a boss gives the OK. Blinds must be closed on sunny days. And even if the lights and air-conditioning go out, the workday will go on.

That would be life at the County Government Center under a detailed energy conservation policy that the Board of Supervisors will consider next week in anticipation of rolling blackouts this summer.

“There will be people who’ll be unhappy, I’m sure,” Chief Administrative Officer Johnny Johnston said Friday. “But there’s nothing in our job descriptions that entitle us to those sorts of things.

“Those are the amenities of life that have kind of crept into the workplace. But when you take that and multiply it across 7,000 workstations--there is the additive effect of all the small things we do.”

Supervisor Kathy Long said she would unplug her own office coffee maker. “The buck stops here,” she said. “I’ll be visiting Starbucks.”

On days when blackouts can’t be averted, the 27-point plan is aimed at keeping the County Government Center up and running nonetheless.

Department heads would be asked to keep flashlights and laptop computers on hand and create common work areas near windows so that employees could conduct business even if the power is out.

The plan also encourages employees to save their computer work often, and sometimes work from home. Agency heads are to lay out specific plans for attending to children and other county residents with special needs who find themselves inside county facilities when unannounced blackouts occur.

Workers also would be instructed to establish systems that ensure paperwork is completed if members of the public are in the middle of a transaction--be it filling out a marriage license or applying for a building permit--when the power goes.

“The premise of this is we’re not closing up, we’re not going home,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said. “We’re going to serve the public during times of emergencies. It’s certainly angled toward helping the public.”

Supervisors began shaping blackout policies last summer. As a participant in Southern California Edison’s “interruptible” power program, the county center underwent more than two dozen blackouts since then in exchange for reduced rates.

Under the Edison program, county officials were warned before the power was cut. This summer, however, the blackouts are expected to arrive unannounced.

Officials hope the policy being considered Tuesday will keep the center running even without advance notice.

Some of the other points laid out in the plan:

* Most lighting and air-conditioning would be shut off by 5:30 p.m.

* Employees would be asked to consolidate photocopiers and printers, turning off machines that aren’t essential.

* Security and safety lighting would be set at “the lowest acceptable levels.”

* Water in faucets would run no hotter than 105 degrees unless necessary for sanitary reasons.

* County computers would go into “sleep” mode after five minutes.

* Workers would be instructed to dress appropriately to handle whatever building temperatures the policy yielded.

Ventura County isn’t alone in planning for the months ahead, said Steve Szalay, executive director of the California State Assn. of Counties. As the energy crisis has set in, each of the state’s 58 counties has agreed to adopt conservation measures that would reduce power consumption by at least 7%.

Although Szalay said he had not heard of any other bans on radios and personal coffee makers, about half of the counties statewide have provided him with copies of their plans, the details of which vary widely, he said.

“San Mateo County is closing down for one day every two weeks,” Szalay said. “In Alameda County, they’ve just completed a solar energy project on their jail that will save them millions of dollars. Orange County has pledged to reduce 10% of its power consumption.

“I’d say by June 1 every county will have its plan in place,” he said. “All the counties are taking this seriously.”