County to Consider Acquiring Backup Generators

In an effort to curb a string of blackouts that have plagued the Ventura County Government Center--power outages caused by California’s ongoing energy crisis--supervisors Tuesday will consider spending $4 million on emergency generators.

The generators would allow the center, home to the county’s administrative and public safety offices, to run with full power, avoiding the late afternoon blackouts that have shut down computers, elevators and overhead lights.

“This is a necessary thing,” said Supervisor Kathy Long, whose office is inside the center. She added that her staff members now come to work with flashlights and battery-operated table lamps. Sometimes, Long said, she simply sends them home.

“With the failure of the energy situation, we have to go this way just so we can do the work of the government,” Long said.

To save on energy bills, Ventura County joined hundreds of larger businesses in cutting a deal with power providers to participate in an interruptible power program.

Under the program, some companies agreed to cut power during peak demand periods. In exchange, the county gets a 20% discount on energy bills. It seemed like a sweet deal for the past 12 years, during which the county was forced into seven blackouts. The agreement allows a maximum of 25 outages annually, up to six hours each.

But last month alone, the county went through 14 days of partial power outages.

And with the ongoing statewide power crisis, there are more dark days ahead for county workers, said John Johnston, director of the General Services Agency. Johnston, who wrote the letter asking for supervisors’ approval to buy the generators, said he would not be surprised if large companies are asked to reduce power usage even after they meet their 25-day quota.

“The plan was to do this only during peak demand,” Johnston said. “Now the peak demand seems to be all day long every day. And we’re doing what we can to keep productivity up.”

Backup generators, designed to keep the county running during natural disasters and other crisis situations, have been pulled into use to keep some electricity going throughout the day. But Johnston said the five existing emergency generators are only capable of handling about one-third of the hourly workload--not nearly enough to support the powerful network of computers used by a majority of county employees.

Also, at least one generator has already broken down and is beyond repair, Johnston said.

The new generators would be powerful enough to keep the Government Center running with full power.

“We still want to use them in an emergency situation,” Johnston said. “But now the definition of emergency has changed. It used to be if an earthquake hit. Now we’re faced with a situation where even if everything’s working as it’s supposed to, we don’t have the capacity to continue delivering services to meet our responsibilities.”

The county would assume a $4-million loan to pay for the generators, which the county would repay over 15 years. Johnston added, however, that his office would first hire an expert to estimate how many generators the county would need and how they could be added to the county facilities.

He said some problems will have to be considered, such as how to meet environmental demands governing the burning of diesel fuel. All the new generators would run on diesel, but environmental constraints limit how many hours a day the fuel can be burned.

“We don’t want short-sighted solutions that could hurt the environment,” Johnston said. “So we are really asking for the authority to start the planning process, and if it works, then we will go forward.”

Supervisor Steve Bennett added he also considers the expensive generators a good long-term investment, given the state’s continuing energy crunch that could ultimately result in price hikes. Still, he said he will spend the weekend studying the costs before fully endorsing the plan.

“That’s the big question I have,” Bennett said. “Is this the right price for us? The concept is a good one, the question is, is it at the proper price?”

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