Kirk Brantley says he can pinpoint exactly when California’s electricity crisis hit its latest level of intensity.
“November was when all the ugly started,November 13,” said Brantley, director of facilities at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana hospital. “On Nov. 10, the (California Public Utilities Commission’s) action to freeze interruptible customers went into effect. That Monday, we had the first interruption ever in winter. I was in my chair, going nuts.” Western Medical-Santa Ana, one of Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s 10 Orange County hospitals, is part of Southern California Edison’s interruptible energy program. In exchange for deeply discounted rates, Western Medical-Santa Ana and other businesses agree to have their electricity usage limited or even shut down during times of shortage.
Hospitals, like other interruptible power customers, experienced almost no disruptions from Edison for years. That’s no longer the case,shortages have occurred daily in recent weeks, and so-called inter-ruptibles that aren’t cutting back are being pounded with penalties.
Brantley said his 287-bed hospital’s feeling the pain.
“Financially, it’s been a killer. I pay nine dollars and a penny” every time the hospital exceeds the contract’s firm service level, he said.
Western Medical-Santa Ana has been socked with approximately $450,000 in penalties during the past few months, according to Brantley.
“We’ve certainly spent much more than we’ve saved,” he said.
In hindsight, Brantley characterizes the hospital’s interruptible contract rates as a “mistake” made prior to Santa Barbara-based Tenet’s acquisition of the hospital from United Western Medical Centers.
Brantley said he’s sending Western Medical-Santa Ana’s power penalty check for December and January to the Public Utilities Commission, rather than to Edison, as a protest. The hospital’s complaint has several elements, he said.
Like other interruptibles, Brantley is irked about the Public Utilities Commission’s recent ruling against letting customers leave their contracts, despite having the option to do so. He also referred to a “backdoor rate hike” and said he believes California’s power outages are manmade.
“We have major generators sitting offline and creating problems,” he said.
If Gov. Gray Davis “doesn’t solve this within the next two weeks, California will never make it through the summer,” he predicted.
Other hospital facilities directors,while less animated than Brantley,say they are concerned about the ramifications of the power crunch.
St. Joseph Hospital-Orange has been interrupted about 20 times between May and December, said Sam Lecharoen, director of engineering and energy for St. Joseph Health System, the facility’s Orange-based parent. St. Joseph’s other local hospitals, St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton and Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, aren’t on the interruptible energy rate.
St. Joseph-Orange has its emergency generators at the ready when the call comes, Lecharoen said. And not all of the 457-bed hospital’s electricity comes under Edison’s interruptible rates.
“We don’t commit the whole generation load to Edison. We only put our non-critical (equipment) on I-6,” he said, using the term for the interruptible contract.
Lecharoen said he encourages his hospital facility managers to make their own judgments on conserving electricity without compromising safety. Examples of that, he said, include shutting off unused equipment and increasing the temperature of chilled water.
“We’re asking them to help prevent rolling blackouts. We are exempt, but we have to do our part,” Lecharoen said.
Most hospitals are exempt from blackouts because the Public Utilities Commission treats them as an essential service.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s electricity has been interrupted 25 times since last May, said Doug Koehler, the Newport Beach medical center’s director of engineering. By contrast, he said the hospital only experienced one interruption prior to last May.
But Koehler said that Hoag, which has 416 beds, has been able to manage its interruptions so far and switches to its emergency generators when the calls come to cut power.
“My concern is that we’re going to have a power failure, not rolling blackouts,” Koehler said.
Among other things, Koehler said that Hoag’s ability to seamlessly move from Edison transmission to its emergency generators would be jeopardized by a power failure.
A power failure could affect computers and life-saving equipment, according to Koehler.
Meanwhile, a smaller OC hospital said it isn’t getting much of a shock from the energy crisis.
“So far, we’ve been OK,” said Marcia Manker, chief operating officer of 230-bed Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley. Orange Coast Memorial does have emergency generators, and it doesn’t belong to Edison’s interruptible program.
Although Orange Coast Memorial isn’t an interruptible customer, Manker said that her facility is working to conserve electricity. She said that lights are not turned on in areas that aren’t being used and “we constantly remind staff about conservation.” n
