It’s mid-summer in Maine again. This time of year we wonder if there’s enough tanning lotion for the beach, enough mosquito repellent for the camp – and yes, enough electrical power for the region. After all, it is in July and August that New England Power Pool faces its highest demand for electricity of the year. And it is this time of year that we’ve become accustomed to periodic requests from New England’s Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) for voluntary efforts to conserve electricity. Pleas for conservation are almost a traditional par of getting through the summer by now. Ten or more years ago now, the utilities used to announce “Kilowatt Savings Days” and encouraged customers to turn of unneeded appliances, dowse the lights and change the settings on the air conditioner. All these behaviors are key aspects of a sustainable lifestyle that burdens neither the environment nor future generations.

Nowadays, though, Maine’s electric utilities don’t do much to encourage conservation efforts even on especially hot days when the region as a whole is facing the prospect of power shortages. Take July 3, for example. Throughout the Northeast power demands were approaching record levels: nearing 31,783 megawatts in New York, and, passing 62,000 megawatts in the Mid-Atlantic (PJM) region. The Ontario system operator called for voluntary conservation efforts on July 3 and PJM customers who had signed up for a voluntary power reduction program actually lowered demand by 600 megawatts. For New England on July 3, demand came within 12 megawatts of the all-time record of 24,967 megawatts, set on July 25, 2001. In this crisis atmosphere, Central Maine Power’s spokespeople were providing a message of reassurance. Pointing to 2,000 megawatts of reserves in New England, Central Maine Power’s spokesman David Allen stated that “a couple thousand megawatts is still a pretty good cushion” against the potential loss of any generators during the hot spell. Apparently CMP is more interested in encouraging consumption than sustainability, these days.

Why are the same utilities that once promoted “Kilowatt Savings Days” now cheerfully unconcerned when power demand in the region approaches record highs? The answer has to do with the fundamental shift in the role of Maine’s electric utilities that occurred on March 1 as electric restructuring got underway in Maine. Utilities that used to be responsible for the adequate supply of power in peak hours lost that responsibility when competitive markets for retail electricity opened in 2000. A little-noticed consequence of that change has been to make electric utilities largely unconcerned with potential electric shortages in peak hours, focusing instead on increasing the number of kilowatt-hours their customers use. Utilities were happy to bill for more consumption as customers conserved fewer kilowatt-hours and less frequently.

We’ve all noticed the CMP ads promoting air conditioning as something “a real Mainer” can take advantage of on a hot day. Central Maine Power has even run contests promoting air conditioners (whose usage tends to coincide with the regional peak in electric demand on hot days) for two years in a row. These promotional campaigns have drawn objections from the Natural Resources Council of Maine who point out that the region’s dirtiest generators operate at times of peak demand and cause Maine’s air to be fouled whenever there are high demands for power. The Public Advocate’s Office also has objected to CMP’s air-conditioner promotion, asking the PUC to ensure that no ratepayer funds pay for these campaigns. The PUC complied with our request.

If you give CMP’s behavior a charitable interpretation, CMP appears to be saying that it’s just fine to turn on the air conditioning, fire up the electric barbecue, crank up the washer and clothes dryer during a hot summer afternoons because of there does turn out to be a power shortage, we all can promptly cooperate with ISO-New England’s request for voluntary conservation. Load can grow in peak hours and, just as easily, be reduced – if the need arises according to this theory.

The problem with this approach is that it simply doesn’t work. Overloaded transmission lines and local distribution circuits tend to fail when demand approaches peak levels and, once they fail, customers don’t have the option of voluntarily reducing the load. It’s simply too late at that point. On July 3, in Connecticut 13,000 customers lost power altogether due to the loss of a sub-station. On the same day, power outages occurred in the Bronx, Westchester County New York, and Northern New Jersey. None of these outages were weather-related; they all resulted from overloaded equipment.

Electrical conservation just doesn’t work as an “on-again, off-again” thing. Particularly during a three or four day heat wave, demand levels persist longer and longer into the evening simply because buildings are hotter and customer use is high. The change in customer behavior must necessarily occur days, if not months or years, before the region hits its peak in electric demand.

During this past legislative session, the Legislature took the management of electricity conservation programs out of the hands of Maine’s electric utilities and turned those responsibilities over the PUC. The PUC has hit the ground running, establishing a portfolio of conservation programs for all types of electric consumers in all parts of the state, with interim programs approved (with adequate funding) on June 13 and permanent programs now being designed for December 2003. The efficient use of electricity is too important to leave to the utilities, according to Maine’s Legislature and I agree. We all need a reliable supply of electricity in New England, particularly in peak hours, and sound conservation practices are a key part of the answer, for every Maine residence and business. Sustainability requires that we make decisions about permanent reductions in the burdens we place on the environment, the air we breathe and the resources we consume not just on the afternoon of a day like July 3, but day in and day out.

Stephen G. Ward is Maine’s public advocate.