Bright Idea, Dim Idea

Lots of bright ideas for solving or easing California’s energy crisis are making the rounds in Sacramento and Washington. Then again, some are not quite so bright.

One idea worth considering comes from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who is sponsoring a bill that would give California and other Pacific states the option of switching to daylight saving time year-round. Daylight saving all year has been used to conserve energy in the past, including during World War II and the energy crisis of the 1970s.

A poll conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the ‘70s found that Americans generally liked the change because it gave them more light in the evenings. And that, of course, is the peak period of electricity usage.

There is some concern about the safety of children going to school in morning darkness. That would need to be considered carefully before California made such a change. Perhaps the start of the school day could be adjusted to conform to new daylight hours.

A not-so-bright idea that is gaining some attention in Sacramento is the old, rejected plan for building Auburn Dam on the American River about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento. State Sen. Rico Oller (R-San Andreas) wants a statewide vote on issuing bonds to build the dam at a cost of about $2.5 billion.

Building Auburn Dam is, in fact, a decidedly bad idea. The dam originally was authorized by Congress in 1965, and part of its foundation was built. The project was stopped after a 1975 earthquake, and the dam was redesigned, but the project languished over the next 20 years because of its high cost and lack of support in Congress.

Oller says the dam would be justified because its hydroelectric plant would generate up to 500 megawatts of power, about enough to light the Sacramento region. But that’s about 10 times what it would cost to build a 500-megawatt conventional power plant.

Oller also claims that the dam and reservoir would be important because of future water shortages, which he says would be even worse than the electricity crisis. The reservoir site is so steep, however, that it wouldn’t hold much water for a project of that cost. And its operation for flood control, the one legitimate purpose for the Auburn Dam, would further limit its water and power production.

The energy crisis is costing California enough without building a massively expensive dam that never could be justified economically. The prospect of more daylight, however, is not only far more cost-effective but could prove to be downright popular.