Energy

Huntington Beach is leading by example in the journey to help Orange County residents and business owners save energy. The city has partnered with Costa Mesa, Westminster and Fountain Valley and Southern California Edison to reach out to the public with an educational program about saving and consuming energy efficiently. The four cities have formed the Orange County Energy Leadership Partnership and entered into an agreement with Edison. It’s a collective attempt to launch combined energy-saving programs that could benefit the community at large.

Michele Marr Picture this: you sweep your life clean of illness, pain, stress, bad habits and just plain bad moods as easily as you sweep your home clean of dust, dirt and cobwebs. With knowledge and practice you can do just that, says Sheevaun O'Connor Moran, founder and president of Energetic Solutions in Huntington Beach. Moran is a pranic healing expert and one of only 15 instructors certified, through the Institute of Inner Studies, to teach pranic healing in the U.S. For most of the past 10 years, Moran had a highly successful career as a sales and marketing executive in the pharmaceutical industry.

In a night of new leadership, the Huntington Beach City Council voted in a new mayor, a new mayor pro tem, and an interim city administrator to head city staff until a replacement for City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft is found. In an annual passing of the gavel Monday night, council members voted Councilwoman Debbie Cook in as new mayor by a voice affirmation, swearing in Councilman Keith Bohr in as mayor pro tem, who will lead council meetings when Cook is absent. Later in the evening, the council voted to sign a contract with Deputy City Administrator Paul Emery to take over his boss’ job as the city looks for someone to fill the spot permanently.

City officials have a variety of concerns on their agendas for 2008, from finding a new city administrator and attracting new development to dealing with an expected economic slowdown and finding new ways to go green. Conservation is the theme for Mayor Debbie Cook, who used her first speech after taking office in December to call for a serious effort to reduce energy usage in the city. Since signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection agreement last year, the council has been discussing incentives for green building and other conservation measures, and Cook said she hoped to make progress in that area.

Torus Tammer FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- With the energy crisis causing concern across the state, the city is taking steps to minimize its power usage. With the help of a Southern California Edison Co. rebate program that will return an estimated $23,097 to the city over two years, city workers will retrofit lighting and ventilation systems in city-owned buildings beginning next week. The project, which will cost the city about $94,000, is expected to be completed by Feb. 9 Steve Hauerwaas, the city's management analyst, said the City Council approved $164,000 for the project Oct. 3 but accepted the lowest bid Nov. 8. Hauerwaas said that based on year-old rates, the city will save about $35,000 annually in energy costs because of the retrofitting.

Tariq Malik HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City officials are meeting with the Southern California Edison Co. in hopes of honing reaction and preparation time during Stage 3 energy emergencies this summer. "We want as much information as they can provide us so when or if there is a blackout, we have adequate resources," said Rich Barnard, the city's spokesman. "That way we can make sure we're doing our job and assisting the public." The state's Public Utilities Committee, he added, issued an order earlier this year directing Edison to meet with Huntington Beach officials, and its Northern California counterpart Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to meet with San Francisco officials.

Tariq Malik HUNTINGTON BEACH -- California's power crisis hit home for some residents and city employees as the doors of City Hall and the Central Library closed early for a day in an effort to save electricity and avoid hefty penalties. More than 400 employees left City Hall, 2000 Main St., by 11 a.m. Friday to go home or relocate to an alternative location for the rest of the workday. The Huntington Beach Police Department, also at the same address, remained open, however.

Huntington Beach High School's Sustainability Club is exactly what its name suggests. It's self sufficient after just three years of being in existence, not relying on the Huntington Beach Union High School District for any funding. "The Sustainability program is definitely sustainable, it doesn't cost taxpayers or the district a dollar," said Greg Goran, Huntington Beach High Sustainability Club director and teacher of social studies and an Environmental Awareness and Responsibility class.

The Huntington Beach City School District has slashed its electric bills in half and expects to save more than $15 million over the next 25 years in electricity. The lower bills, which have even had a negative balance at times, come thanks to solar upgrades that have been underway for the past two years, said Jon Archibald, the district's assistant superintendent of administration services. The district replaced internal and external lightings at all of its nine schools, and the new lights demand less energy.

My wife was wondering why I didn't lift a finger around the house over the weekend. I gave her my amazed look. "Don't you know there's an energy crisis?" I asked. She assumed that same confused look politicians get when you ask them why they haven't fulfilled their election promises? "The governor's asked that we conserve energy," I continued. "I'm just trying to do my part." "Not that kind of energy, you nitwit!" she fired back. "The governor's talking about electrical energy.

Durai Swamy was interested in reducing his carbon footprint by making his Huntington Beach home as energy efficient as possible. So he turned to the Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP) of Huntington Beach in the interest of doing the work without overpaying for it. CHERP, which is made up of real estate agents, contractors, city officials and those passionate about sustainability, is hosting free community forums about its services. Members educate homeowners on how to retrofit their properties at a reasonable cost, said John Shipman, the program's regional director.

Huntington Beach High School's Sustainability Club is exactly what its name suggests. It's self sufficient after just three years of being in existence, not relying on the Huntington Beach Union High School District for any funding. "The Sustainability program is definitely sustainable, it doesn't cost taxpayers or the district a dollar," said Greg Goran, Huntington Beach High Sustainability Club director and teacher of social studies and an Environmental Awareness and Responsibility class.

The McKenna Claire Foundation has just taken another bold step toward fighting pediatric brain cancer, and now the words of Rex Hudler are stuck in my head again. Hudler, the former TV color commentator for the Angels, had a homespun phrase that he would whip out periodically: "Be a fountain, not a drain. " It's a simple enough creed to live by: Put out positive energy and don't cave in to cynicism. More often than not, it sounds doable. There are times in life, though, that make that fountain seem like a Herculean effort.

The artist traced her giant baby doll concept back to when she cleared out her 10-year-old son's room of toys he no longer touched. "I had just been stashing things in his room," Joyce Dallal said, describing the size of her now 13-year-old son's past playtime footprint on the environment. "I was just amazed at the amount of stuff I pulled out of his room. It filled several garbage bags. " Dallal soon discovered that it wasn't so easy to get rid of the boy's unwanted toys.

Judy Sykes and her husband, Ray, always knew their electricity bill was higher than average because of a large freezer they have in their garage for business. But in the last 20 years, their bill kept getting higher despite the recent installation of a smart meter by Southern California Edison, which Judy said was supposed to lower their bill. "It was supposed to help, but I didn't see it helping," she said. The couple now pays about $350 a month. Realizing that their bill would only get higher, the Sykeses decided recently to look into installing solar panels.

State Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) selected Duke's Huntington Beach as the 35th Senate District's "Green Business of the Year," he said in a release. Harman said he selected Duke's for its earth-friendly practices. The restaurant uses energy-efficient light bulbs and energy-saving appliances, according to the release. Duke's often refrains from using Styrofoam and elects to use recycled and recyclable containers. The restaurant also buys seafood and beef from suppliers who are also environmentally responsible, and its cooking oil is soy-based, which has a smaller impact on the environment.

The Huntington Beach City School District has slashed its electric bills in half and expects to save more than $15 million over the next 25 years in electricity. The lower bills, which have even had a negative balance at times, come thanks to solar upgrades that have been underway for the past two years, said Jon Archibald, the district's assistant superintendent of administration services. The district replaced internal and external lightings at all of its nine schools, and the new lights demand less energy.

If T. Boone Pickens could choose between his current circumstances and being an 18-year-old preparing to enter the job market, he would choose the latter — and he might send his first résumés to energy companies. The oil and gas entrepreneur, who served as the keynote speaker at First Foundation Bank's 21st Economic and Market Update on Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, said with the economy continuing to struggle, now is as good a time as ever to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil. And if he had to trade in his wealth and private plane to be a young go-getter, he'd do just that.

Huntington Beach is in the process of issuing permits to begin the installation of solar panels at three city facilities. The installations are set to take place in the parking lots of the city's Civic Center, Central Library and city yard. "It's a great project," said Aaron Klemm, the city's energy project manager. In October, the city entered into an agreement with SunEdison to install the systems. The solar canopies will resemble carports and provide shaded parking lots at the facilities, Klemm said.

Students in Huntington Beach High School's new environmental sustainability class aren't just learning how to live green, but are making it a reality at their school. The Environmental Awareness and Responsibility class, which started in the fall out of an on-campus club, is opening students' eyes about the environment while letting them take action through a campuswide recycling program and digging into the dirt to build an organic garden. "This is my favorite class," said 17-year-old Tony Tennant.