Californians cut back on power use

But will Californians make turning off the lights as much of a habit as turning off the faucet, as they have during droughts?

"We really have to focus on conservation and developing conservation measures, especially because it will be a while before we see anymore (new) generators brought online," said Kyle DeVine, a spokeswoman for the state Public Utilities Commission.

Until more power plants are built, California will continue to operate with minimal energy reserves, said Lorie O'Donley, spokeswoman for the state Independent System Operator which controls the power grid.

O'Donley expects the power shortage to last at least several weeks. And when the current energy situation calms down, there still will be barely enough power to go around.

"The dynamic the last year is the state growth has been at a high level, and at the same time, the supply of generation has been pretty static," O'Donley said. "We're operating at slim margins on a frequent basis."

She said energy use has increased by about 7 percent over the past year in California.

The state has three emergency stages -- each is declared when energy reserves fall below a certain percentage. Stage Three is the most dire.

Cold weather, idle power plants and scant supplies led to a Stage Three emergency for the first time in California history Thursday. The Stage Three, which could have caused rotating blackouts throughout the state, lasted two hours.

As a result of the declared emergencies, power grid regulators have asked people to turn off lights and computers that aren't being used, and to wait to turn on their holiday lights until after 7 p.m.

Duane Shaw, 54, a wastewater treatment plant operator, began taking steps to improve the energy efficiency of his San Diego home 18 months ago when rates began rising. He purchased a more energy efficient refrigerator, installed a $30 device to regulate the heating of his home, and converted all his incandescent lights to more efficient fluorescent bulbs.

"It's a philosophical thing," he said. "It just believe in conserving energy."

Energy conservation is a long-term project for Macy's West Department stores, which have been cutting electricity use for at least two years, spokeswoman Rina Neiman said.

The company has cut about 14 percent of its energy usage in 100 stores in six states, she said. In the San Francisco store, the company's largest, Macy's has cut energy use by about 25 percent. The store has tied cutting power use with store managers' bonus systems -- saving energy means a bigger bonus.

"We're spending a lot of money changing lighting systems and rewiring so certain lights can be turned off, and we can still conduct business," Neiman said.

Monty Boscovich, who lives in a Victorian house decorated for the holidays in Alameda, is skeptical about power companies' claims that the power shortage is attributable to scheduled maintenance.

"You listen to the stuff on the news and you don't know if it's true," he said. "Is it really scheduled maintenance or are they doing it to drive up the price?"<