Alameda has its' own independent electric utility, separate from PG&E present elsewhere in Bay Area cities.

ALAMEDA, Calif., Jan. 12, 2001 — While consumers throughout Northern California prepare for economic impacts resulting from the state’s electric-power crisis, residents and businesses in Alameda are being reassured that they will be largely immune from the problem.

Decision Not to Deregulate Provides Stability
 "We chose not to subject Alamedans to the fluctuations of the open market for electric power by deregulating. The result has been fiscal stability for our operations at a time when there has been great instability in the electric utility industry." The utility has been providing electric power to Alameda for 113 years, making it the oldest municipally owned electric utility in California.

Alameda Power & Telecom  is part of the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), a consortium of municipally owned electric utility companies that maintains its own power-generating geothermal and hydroelectric facilities. "The benefit to us is that we’re self-sufficient in terms of power generation. We don’t have to buy electricity on the open market."  "As part of the grid, we’re subject to the impacts of state-wide power shortages caused by extraordinary circumstances such as the abnormally cold winter we’re having."

"There have been no increases in our rates." 

Founded in 1887, Alameda Power & Telecom is the municipal utility serving approximately 32,000 customers in Alameda. 

ALAMEDA, Calif., May, 7 2001 — In order to protect our customers from rolling blackouts, Alameda Power & Telecom has instituted a comprehensive Power Management Program. 

Alameda Power & Telecom's Power Management Program includes both emergency supplemental power generation and customer conservation and energy management.  Four emergency generators, totaling up to 6 megawatts of power, are now available to reduce the demand our community places on the State's electric system.  This emergency generation, coupled with continued customer conservation, should meet any State energy reduction mandates.

Energy reserves within the State are expected to remain low, and Alameda Power & Telecom expects that the California Independent System Operator will continue Stage Alerts for the indefinite future.  A catastrophic failure on the State's transmission system or other significant event could cause the State to mandate reductions in excess of approximately 10%.  In the unlikely event that Alameda cannot avoid rolling blackouts, they would begin with Outage Zone 2.

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