Over the next week, the Claremont Colleges will install five two-megawatt generators at the power substation on Pomona College’s campus. The installations come in response to the power interruptions experienced as a result of California’s power crisis. The decision to continue with plans for the generators was made despite California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) January 26 resolution, which waives the increased penalties charged to interruptible power customers who maintain power during times when power is at a premium. The colleges will keep the generators because of the continued threat of rolling blackouts, the indefinite nature of the CPUC decision, their practicality in the case of emergencies, and concern over increased power needs during the summer months.

The CPUC, according to the text of their decision, was called on by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to aid I-6 interruptible customers because of the current power crisis, which necessitated a far greater need for periods of interruption as usual. The decision noted that the CEC found these interruptions to be "a threat to public health and safety."

The CPUC decision waives "the penalties that customers on interruptible rate programs would incur for failing to curtail when requested." It further states that the customers must not be billed for penalties already incurred, and that all penalties "paid, outstanding, and yet to be billed" must be tracked in a memorandum account.

The Commission stated that it would immediately begin to deliberate over whether customers should be held liable for past penalties. It is holding proceedings at which it will hear from customers and their legal representatives. In addition, a survey "regarding interruptible program options" was scheduled to be sent to customers.

Pomona’s two new generators will be installed on Sunday, February 11, requiring a power shutdown from 5 am until 5 pm. The shutdown will affect all of Pomona’s campus, parts of Claremont McKenna College, and parts of CUC’s central programs and services.

In addition to the generators rented by Pomona College, the Claremont University Consortium decided to obtain three generators, which could be used to power the rest of the colleges in the event of a blackout. While power is provided for all of the colleges through a central distribution system and paid by CUC, which is then reimbursed by each college, Pomona receives its power from separate feeders from the rest of the colleges. This distinction makes it necessary that Pomona have its own generators and that they be installed separately.

The second installation, with a power shutdown affecting the rest of the campuses, will take place later in the week and shut take "only a couple of hours," Director of the Physical Plant Al McQuilkin said.

Although the situation seemed to be resolved by the CPUC decision, the colleges have decided to go ahead with the installations. President Peter Stanley said that the colleges are actually "more subject to rolling blackouts now that [they] are off the interruptible power contract, and we are attaching the generators to protect for that."

In addition, Stanley noted that the CPUC could potentially reverse the decision, thus re-instituting penalties, and that the "predictions are that summer will be the worst of all for California," in terms of power. Both reasons indicate a potential need for the colleges to provide their own power.

Director of Campus Planning and Maintenance Jim Hansen stated that, "the electrical power crisis in California makes it impossible to predict when we may experience a rolling blackout. The decision to move ahead with the installation of the generators was one of necessity. With the generators online, we can provide power to keep the campus safe, continue the academic mission of the College, and better control conditions that are currently outside our sphere of influence."

The colleges’ concerns regarding the CPUC, which relate to their maintenance of the fee waiver and decision over those fees that have already been assessed, are being dealt with through the newly formed Power Alliance of Southern California Independent Colleges and Universities. The Alliance is composed of "nonprofit institutions [that] have a combined enrollment of more than 20,000 students, and range from California Lutheran University in the West and University of Redlands in the East."

"Primarily through the Alliance, the Claremont Colleges will try to make the CPUC aware of the serious financial effect any penalties would have on our ability to carry on normal operations. We will also try to make it clear that penalties would be unfair, based on the way the interruptible rate program was supposed to operate, [where we have] infrequent outages during the summer when our students are not on campus, and based on the fact that the CPUC prevented us from opting out of the program last November as we were supposed to be able to do," said Treasurer Carlene Miller.

"The Alliance will lobby both CPUC and SCE for some relief on the penalties we’ve paid to date," said Brenda Barham Hill, Chief Executive Officer of CUC. The group "has a ‘not to exceed’ [a certain amount] contract with a utility/energy consultant and two attorneys whose practices specialize in utility matters." A brief has been filed that will allow the Alliance to speak publicly before the Commission.

"Spread across the 14 members of the Alliance, [the costs] will be in the neighborhood of several thousand dollars each—unless we agree to pursue this much further than anticipated at the moment," said Barham Hill.

Stanley said that he believed the interruptible contract "couldn’t hold because the conditions had changed. It was assumed that the interruptions would happen in the summer, not during the semester."

He also noted that, "Pomona College has not spent any of its own funds on lobbying or related activities." The colleges are already members of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which is a registered lobbying organization, and of which the Power Alliance is a subsidiary. Dues are regularly paid to this organization, but "to some degree we may have to supplement [our dues] for this work [of the Alliance]."

Stanley was optimistic, however: "everyone assumes that the Commission will look for voluntary conservation measures as evidence of our good faith. We have already undertaken a number of conservation measures, and are working with students and faculty to create additional conservation plans for their buildings and programs."