Happy Holidays, Now Turn Off That Tree

Remember the days when you’d call up the electric company this time of year and a friendly recorded voice would offer season’s greetings?

Here’s what I got late Tuesday afternoon from Edison International:

“Due to a shortage of generation resources, the California Independent System Operator has declared a Stage 2 emergency, advising the public that power shortages are likely to occur. . . . You can help by turning off all unneeded lighting, equipment and appliances.”

Made me feel all warm and hearth-like inside.

What I’m sure the voice really wanted to say was “And whatever you do, don’t turn on those dad-blamed Christmas lights!”

What is this, Russia?

To be fair, the Edison people don’t want to spoil your holidays. They really do have the spirit, and they want you to enjoy your lighted Santa Clauses and illuminated icicles.

It’s just that . . . well, maybe you’ve heard about electricity deregulation. Maybe you remember what a great idea it was and how it would lower prices.

Tom Boyd has heard of deregulation. Oh boy, has he heard of it.

And even though his job at Edison is to talk to the media, I get the impression he wishes I’d never phoned--especially when he learns I want to talk about the public reducing its holiday lighting.

I could have sworn I heard Boyd sigh.

“We realize it’s a sensitive subject and I’m extremely reluctant to even talk about it,” he says, sounding genuinely melancholy. “We’re in a power crunch, and we’ve got to do what we can to keep the state from going to rotating outages.”

Under deregulation, Cal-ISO is the agency that provides electricity for about 75% of the state, including Southern California. But the name people around here know is Edison, which puts them in the middle of the public relations nightmare that short electrical supplies and higher prices have brought to many Californians.

Last summer, for example, customers in San Diego County and south Orange County served by San Diego Gas & Electric saw their bills double.

What’s the Problem?

OK, that was summer and people cranked up air conditioning. You can understand the power people asking the public to conserve.

But this is Christmas, for Pete’s sake.

You can’t tell people to turn off the holiday lights, can you?

“All we can do is tell people what ISO is telling us about the power situation,” Boyd says, sounding about as cheerful as a coroner. “The prudent thing to do is to reduce consumption in a power emergency, and one of the things you can do is delay turning on holiday lights.”

Edison has suggested--as politely as possible--that people delay, gulp, until at least 8 p.m.

That’s about three hours later than many eager beavers want to wait.

Boyd doesn’t want to sound Grinchy about the whole thing. He’s only answering my questions because he made the mistake of picking up the phone.

“It would make a difference,” he says to my question about whether reducing lighting would really put a dent in things.

“For a single home, it’s not that much,” Boyd says, “but multiply it by 4.3 million customers, which we have, and don’t forget Pacific Gas & Electric--they’ve got 4.5 million customers--and San Diego Gas & Electric--they’ve got 1.4 million.

“We just know holiday lights represent extra demand, and at this time, the state’s got a limited supply of electricity.”

Electricity deregulation became law in California in 1998. The public debate went right over my head, because I don’t understand anything about how electrons make a toaster work.

Still, I don’t remember proponents back then saying anything about dimming Nativity scenes.

Boyd doesn’t want to hear talk like that. He knows Edison’s customers don’t want to talk about power shortages at Christmas.

“We’re facing some serious times,” he says. “We’ve got a power supply problem and a dysfunctional electricity market. We’re deregulated, but it wasn’t done quite right. We were pioneers, and pioneers don’t always get things right.”

Wanting to let the poor man go, I ask if there’s any sign of a letup.

“No,” he says. “I just got a message that ISO expects supplies to be extremely tight over the next 10 days.”

I think what he means is “Have a happy, deregulated holiday season!”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.