School Climate & Safety

Calif. Energy Crisis Predicted To Sap Budgets

By Mark Stricherz — January 31, 2001 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Voicing growing dismay, California school officials said last week that the state’s power crisis will quickly drain districts’ pocketbooks.

The worsening electricity crunch is expected to last months and prove costly to consumers, experts say. In addition, some state school officials are worried that their local counterparts may be overlooking the problem’s magnitude.

State officials sounded one note of alarm after a seminar held last week in Sacramento by the California Department of Education to provide information about the crisis to Northern California districts. Tony Hesch, a field representative for the agency, said the 140 participants in attendance were surprisingly uninformed.

“There was an awful lot of disbelief from the audience,” Mr. Hesch said. “I think by the time it ended, there was a feeling that this was a situation that needed to be ended right now.”

California’s energy woes stem largely from a 1996 decision by the state to partially deregulate its market for electricity. Designed mainly to cut consumers’ electric bills, deregulation has instead translated this year and last into “rolling blackouts” and higher utility costs. (“California Schools Lose Power as Energy Crisis Deepens,” Jan. 24, 2001.)

Mr. Hesch fretted that those who missed the Jan. 23 event in Sacramento were likely to misread the energy crisis.

“There are still a lot of people who believe this is a manufactured crisis and not a distribution problem,” Mr. Hesch said. “The reality is, this problem has gotten worse significantly.”

To educate district officials, Mr. Hesch and others offered tips on how to conserve energy. Their suggestions included turning off lights when classrooms are not in use, consolidating activities during weekends and at night in one room, and devising a plan to cut energy costs.

Request for Exemption

A few days earlier, a California group representing district financial officers said the cost of the energy crunch would be “extraordinary.” The group had sent a survey by e-mail to the state’s 1,000 districts; 225 responded.

Kevin Gordon, the executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials, said districts would likely need an extra $150 million to $200 million this school year to cover mushrooming natural gas and electricity bills.

“That’s incredible,” Mr. Gordon said. “It’s just a very, very large utility bill.”

He said 40 percent of the districts that responded to the survey indicated that they had already run through their budget reserves for the school year.

“That means that either these are extraordinary bills or there are other costs eating up their reserves,” Mr. Gordon said. His group has petitioned the state legislature to pay for the expected higher costs.

As of late last week, California school officials seemed pessimistic about the prospects for quick relief.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin sent a letter Jan. 19 to the state Public Utilities Commission asking that schools be exempted from rolling electrical blackouts or energy rationing. But a spokesman for Ms. Eastin said there’s little hope.

A spokesman for the utilities commission said officials were still examining the request.

A version of this article appeared in the January 31, 2001 edition of Education Week as Calif. Energy Crisis Predicted To Sap Budgets

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Spotlight Spotlight on Enhancing School Safety and Emergency Response
This Spotlight will help you explore proactive measures and effective strategies for enhancing school safety and emergency response.
School Climate & Safety Leading a District After a School Shooting Is Hard. These Superintendents Want to Help
A network of superintendents who've led districts after school shootings plans to support colleagues recovering from similar crises.
4 min read
Photograph of crime scene tape and school.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
School Climate & Safety States Emphasize School Violence Prevention, Not Just Security
In the wake of school shootings in their states last year, legislators hope to avert future tragedies.
7 min read
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa.
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa. The deaths in school shootings last year have led to new legislation in a half-dozen states.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
School Climate & Safety Leader To Learn From One Leader’s Plan to Cut Chronic Absenteeism—One Student at a Time
Naomi Tolentino helps educators in Kansas City, Kan., support strong school attendance.
9 min read
Naomi Tolentino Miranda leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino Miranda showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Naomi Tolentino leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Erin Woodiel for Education Week