Power shortage spurs shutdown

100 firms, schools were in energy-saving plan

By COLLEEN KRANTZ Register Staff Writer 05/15/2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa City, Ia. - As many as 100 Iowa businesses and schools were forced to shut off their lights and air conditioning Monday as an energy shortage hit the state for the second time in less than a week.

The shutdowns, which prompted a handful of districts to send students home early, were accompanied by a general plea from Alliant Energy that all Iowans try to conserve energy.

"I think what we have to realize as consumers is that these problems will only get worse if we don't do anything to address them," said John Ruff, spokesman for Alliant Energy in Cedar Rapids.

Seventy-five to 100 Iowa businesses and schools are part of a program in which they are charged a reduced rate in exchange for agreeing to dramatically cut electricity use during emergencies, Ruff said. These "interruptible customers" were last asked to cut their power Thursday afternoon.

Last year, Alliant resorted to the power-saving step once, Ruff said.

"This is the first time in the past eight years that I can ever recall that we were asked to shut down during the school day," said Randy McCaulley, superintendent for Anamosa schools, where high school students were released shortly after noon.

The Anamosa district saves about $14,000 annually by having two school buildings in the program, he said. One building has a backup generator and didn't have to close.

The agency that monitors power availability in the Midwest asked Alliant to conserve 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 90,000 homes, because three Iowa plants were down, Ruff said. The Louisa Generating Station near Muscatine had mechanical problems; the Duane Arnold plant at Palo was undergoing routine maintenance; and a steam pipe had ruptured at the Ottumwa Generating Station in Chillicothe.

The Cedar Rapids district, which had to release students from its three largest high schools Monday, will reassess the worthiness of the power program, Superintendent Lew Finch said.

http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789001/14686765.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 15, 2001