Businesses May Seek Blackout Exemption

The San Francisco Giants want one, and so presumably do most other California businesses: an exemption from the rolling blackouts that experts say are all but certain this summer.

But whether operating on a baseball diamond or in more mundane venues far from the bright lights of pro sports, few businesses will be granted such waivers--and then only to minimize threats to public health and safety--under a process detailed Monday by the California Public Utilities Commission.

“It would be nice in a perfect world if we could exempt everyone who asks from rolling blackouts. Unfortunately, we can’t do that,� Commissioner Carl A. Wood said in announcing the procedure for applying for blackout exemptions.

The PUC already exempts a fairly lengthy list of those whose services are needed to protect public health and safety, including fire and police stations and acute-care hospitals.

Energy experts are predicting blackouts this year ranging from a total of 20 hours at the most optimistic to 200 hours or more, based on such factors as historic patterns of electricity usage, forecasts for hot weather and expectations of diminished hydroelectric imports from out of state.

Any new business exemptions, which would start no sooner than August, would be granted only to minimize danger to public health and safety.

That means a business would not be granted an exemption from outages just because it fears revenue loss, Wood said at a Los Angeles news conference.

Residential customers will be unable to apply for the exemptions. Nevertheless, many already enjoy blackout protection by quirk of location--if they share a circuit with an exempt customer--or if they are customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and municipal utilities such as those in Glendale and Burbank that do not rely on the statewide power grid for electricity.

The PUC can approve only a limited number of blackout exemptions, Wood said, because to maintain system reliability, a pool of customers representing at least 40% of total system load must be available for rolling power outages.

Statewide, about 50% of system load is exempt from blackouts in the territories served by the three big investor-owned utilities: Edison International’s Southern California Edison, PG&E; Corp.’s Pacific Gas & Electric and Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric.

“This is not an exercise in determining who is most affected economically by rolling blackouts. Everyone is affected economically by rolling blackouts,� Wood said.

The PUC has set up a Web site, https://www.rotating-outages.com, and toll-free number, (888) 741-1106, for businesses seeking information and applications. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. June 1.

Completed applications will be reviewed by an engineering consulting firm, Exponent Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., which will develop a priority list based on risk to public health and safety.

Only businesses that have applied would be considered for exemptions, Wood said, explaining that the commission will not excuse entire industries.

The PUC is expected to vote on the exemptions by Aug. 2.

Wood said several companies already have applied, including the operators of Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, home of the Giants major league baseball team.