Small to medium-size Orange County companies are girding for an expected worsening blackout situation in the coming months.
As many as 260 hours of rolling blackouts are forecast for the summer in California. Although individual corporate power consumers will see only bits and pieces of that, companies hit with a rolling blackout can lose data, and, ultimately, business. Manufacturers can lose an entire production line during a blackout.
Smaller businesses are particularly vulnerable to blackouts. Most big companies have put in place generators,at $350,000 and up,to keep running when the lights go out. Moreover, larger businesses often have operations across the country, providing a buffer against problems here. Not so for many small businesses.
For Megatrux Inc., a Brea transportation logistic company with 27 OC employees, phone service is a major concern during a blackout.
The company has installed overriding jacks allowing lines to bypass its main phone system, placing the jacks in its skylight-equipped warehouse so employees can work in daylight in the event of a rolling blackout. Plus, each dispatcher has a cellular telephone.
“We have operated during former brown-outs in this manner,” said Cindy De Lucca, Megatrux’s vice president of administration. “Granted, those sorts of situations have been hectic.”
Rosemead-based Southern California Edison’s Jeff Lebow, a manager of economic and business development, said it’s economically critical for companies to minimize the effects of a rolling blackout.
“California is not a very affordable place to manufacture a product to begin with,” he said.
Lebow, stationed at Edison’s Westminster office, advises local businesses on how to cut their demand for electricity.
“Employee safety also is an issue,” Lebow said. “During a blackout, you want to have enough power to get your employees safely out of a building or other work area.”
Many firms are instituting energy-saving measures while busily acquiring backup power supplies,generators or batteries,that will give them some breathing space to back up data in case the Folsom-based California Independent System Operator orders a rolling blackout for their area.
This will be the first summer Californians face rolling blackouts on a regular basis.
“Right now the big question facing us is: ‘Is this going to be the only bad summer for us?'” Lebow said.
Some companies that had braced themselves for possible Y2K-related problems now are reaping the benefits of protection against possible blackouts.
“We are benefiting from the Y2K scare,that forced us to get a good backup power system,” said Steve Paek, facilities and purchasing manager with Volt Temporary Staffing, which has corporate offices jointly in Orange and New York.
The company employs 40 people in Orange, where it has a diesel generator with a below-ground fuel tank.
“If Cal-ISO notifies us of a coming blackout then we switch over to our generator,” Paek said.
Volt’s Orange office also has a battery system backing up critical equipment.
Escondido battery and generator supplier Computer Protection Technologies Inc., which has a Lake Forest regional office, reaped $1.5 million in sales last year providing equipment to companies.
Uninterruptible power system batteries provide seamless power in the event of a rolling blackout for anywhere from 10 minutes to a few hours, depending on the battery’s power capacity.
“If a company needs more than a few hours of backup electricity then we recommend a diesel generator,” said Computer Protection sales rep Sean Murphy.
And companies also are looking for ways to cut the amount of power they use.
“It’s not that hard to cut electricity consumption,” said Rosalinda Rodriguez, Megatrux’s vice president of marketing.
Megatrux recently finished maintenance service on its air conditioners and lighting fixtures to ensure optimal operation without excessive electricity consumption, according to De Lucca.
Edison’s Lebow recommends that companies switch to compact fluorescent lighting and acquire infrared sensors that can determine whether anyone is in the office.
“If the sensors detect that no one is in the office, then a computer system would automatically power down things like air conditioning and lighting,” Lebow said. “And we recommend keeping thermostats at 78 degrees.”
Costa Mesa networking products maker Emulex Corp. has a system with several backup batteries in place.
If a blackout lasts longer than a few hours, then the company will fire up a diesel generator.
Starbase Corp., a Santa Ana maker of developer tool software, also has multiple backup systems for its network servers.
Company chief information officer Doug Norman said the biggest threat to a company is the loss of productivity that would result from an extended blackout.
“If there’s a blackout and it gets real hot, obviously people need to go home,” said Norman.
Matt Cordova at Cordova Bolt, a Buena Park distributor of bolts, nuts and screws, said his company has had a backup battery for its computer systems for the past five years, and will soon acquire a backup diesel generator.
“We just use air conditioning when we need it,when staff are actually there,” Cordova said. “And we close outside doors in warehouses as much as possible.” n
