Board Doesn’t Pull Plug on Blackout Program
Ventura County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to continue their voluntary blackout program, which is expected to save the county $326,446 through December 2002.
In a deal with Southern California Edison, the county receives a lower rate on energy by agreeing to endure blackouts during peak demand periods.
The county began participating in the “interruptible” power program at the government center in 1988 and gets a 20% discount on energy bills for doing so. The agreement allows for a maximum of 25 outages each year, up to six hours each.
Since January, 12 power outages have affected the government center, home to the county’s administrative and public safety offices. During the outages, the county relied on backup generators, which do not allow the center to operate at full power.
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