Power Blackout Wakes Up Las Vegas
July 17, 2001
Power Blackout Wakes Up Las Vegas
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:24 p.m. ET
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The light bulb went on when the power went out in Las Vegas.
A blackout that left 10,000 Las Vegas customers without electricity for up to 45
sweltering minutes earlier this month stripped away the Neon City's feeling that what is
going on in California can't happen here.
``I left California to get away from this,'' said Wendy Albert, who moved to Las Vegas
from Pasadena, Calif., in June.
Nevada Power Co. was among those caught off guard July 2. Soaring temperatures of at
least 113 degrees and four generating plant failures forced it to pull the plug in the first
such blackout the utility has ever had.
The Las Vegas Strip never stopped glittering because the resorts have their own
generators to keep air conditioners humming and the eye-popping neon lights glowing.
Even before the blackout, conservation measures were well under way on the Strip
because of rising electricity rates. But the episode seemed to get everyone's attention,
prompting still more energy-saving measures in this city famous for its excess.
The Bellagio hotel-casino's dancing water fountains, for example, spouted off every
half-hour instead of every 15 minutes during the week of the Fourth of July. At the Paris
Las Vegas hotel-casino, the 50-story, half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower is now
illuminated only five hours a day, instead of around the clock.
To avoid more blackouts, Nevada Power has presented a plan to buy more power from
privately operated generating stations planned in Nevada over the next three years.
However, Tim Hay, consumer advocate for the Nevada attorney general's office, said the
utility needs to build more of its own power plants to give ``Nevada folks a safety net, an
insurance policy.''
Nevada thought it had learned some lessons from California's botched experiment with
deregulation. Last year, Gov. Kenny Guinn postponed the state's own move to
deregulate, and the Legislature this spring followed up by halting deregulation for
residential users altogether.
In recent months, resorts up and down the Strip have been ``relamped'' with more
energy-efficient light bulbs, and ``smart'' thermostats control guest rooms.
Casino corporations like MGM Mirage, the largest owner of Strip resorts, budgeted 18
percent more for energy costs this year and expect to spend a total of about $39 million.
The Stardust hotel-casino, home to Wayne Newton, said $700,000 in higher energy
costs during the second quarter hurt its earnings. And most of the city's hotels have
imposed a $3-per-night surcharge on rooms to help cover rising costs.
A 38 percent rate increase since last July for commercial and residential customers has
consumers conserving, too. The customer who was paying about $110 a month for
electricity for a three-bedroom home a year ago is shelling out about $150 this year,
according to Nevada Power.
``I don't use my air conditioning unless someone comes to visit, and then I set it at 80
degrees,'' said 70-year-old Judy Root.
Last month, the Clark County school district -- the nation's sixth-largest -- ordered most
campuses shuttered every afternoon to save as much as $700,000 in July alone. Many
schools in the district are on a year-round schedule.
The owner of the Las Vegas Ice Garden cut afternoon skating hours.
``Last year, our power bill in the summer period was about $17,000 per month,'' rink
owner Bob Wessels said. ``This year, it will be about $30,000 per month.''
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press |
