Statewide rolling blackouts struck California on Monday and Tuesday of this week, eliminating electricity in some parts of Claremont. Pomona College was not affected by these particular blackouts, but the administration concerned about the impact of a limited power supply in the coming months.

"Everybody seems to be agreed that the summer’s going to be bloody awful," noted President Peter Stanley.

In addition to the difficulties associated with blackouts, the cost of electricity in California will rise. On Tuesday the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously agreed to implement a rate increase of 3 cents/kilowatt hour (kwh), which, at a boost of almost 50 percent for some customers, represents the largest power rate increase in the history of California.

The situation of the colleges will be exacerbated by a recent California Public Utilities Commission decision to stop suspending penalties charged for ignoring interruptible contracts. The college’s interruptible contract meant the incurrence of huge penalties for continuing to use power in the event of an interruption, which could come at any time that power supplies ran low. The college may now choose to opt out of the agreement, but it is not yet clear if it will do so.

With rolling blackouts and an increase in the cost of electricity imminent, the college is implementing and evaluating a variety of options to combat the energy crisis.

"I would say that we are highly committed to finding ways of making the campus more efficient in terms of energy consumption," said Director of Planning & Maintenance Jim Hansen. Considering the continual increase of energy consumption at Pomona College over the last decade (Graph 1), a reevaluation of our energy usage is necessary to prevent fiscal loss.

"Every year since fiscal year 1986-2000, the average annual kwh usage has risen by 568,522 kwh at our college" commented Matt Muller ’03 (Graph 1). "This is enough energy to power 49 average US households [Department of Energy standard] for a year."

Pomona College is attempting to combat energy inefficiency. The college is currently implementing some conservation policies. "We are not heating or cooling administrative, and some academic buildings, on the weekends. [W]e are adjusting the thresholds on the climate control systems, so that less cooling and heating occur," according to Treasurer Carlene Miller.

The effect of these conservation methods, shown through comparison of electricity usage across the month of February over the last decade, reveals an overall decrease in energy use for February of this year. February is the first month since implementation of the energy programs for which there is reliable data. Based upon last year’s and historical data, the energy consumption for February decreased 28 percent. This reduction in energy usage translates to a savings of $22, 690. However, data provided by the Physical Plant reveals a continuing increase in dorm electricity consumption, suggesting that conservation methods have yet to become effective within the residential halls.

A proposal for a Task Force on Energy Strategy, created by Tyler Dillavou ’01, has been approved by the administration and will be implemented within the next several weeks.

"The purpose of the Task Force [is] to draft a set of energy-saving recommendations for the College based on complete analysis of a number of different possible strategies, coordinating the conservation efforts of students, faculty, staff, and administration and enlisting support from outside firms to achieve a sound energy policy that meets the needs of all constituencies,"