PAINFUL POWER BILLS LOOM PUC-APPROVED 42% RATE HIKE WILL SAP SCHOOL, HOSPITAL, CITY BUDGETS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

PALMDALE - Antelope Valley business people, residents and officials say they will try to reduce their electricity use after the state approved a 42 percent rate hike.

But however much they conserve, they expect their electric bills will jump painfully.

``Our high school district has budgeted $1.7 million for electricity. Take 50 percent of that, which is $850,000, and cap that on top,'' said Larry Freise, Antelope Valley Union High School District coordinator of attendance and special projects. ``A rate increase like that is unbelievable.''

The state Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow rate hikes of 46 percent for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and 42 percent for Southern California Edison Co. to take effect immediately, affecting about 25 million Californians.

Commission President Loretta Lynch said she hoped the increases would force Californians to conserve more energy and would send a message to ``electricity hogs'' to ease up on power usage.

The increase will be subject to a tiered rate system designed to protect consumers who conserve, while charging heavy users more, Lynch said.

Exempted would be low-income Californians and residential customers who use less than 130 percent of the ``baseline'' electricity allowance.

The proposed increase would be on top of the 9 percent to 15 percent hike the PUC approved in January, and an additional 10 percent increase already scheduled for next year.

One senior citizen called the rate hikes ``the biggest bunch of graft.''

``The seniors are on fixed income. We're having it tough enough and they're going to run us clean out of our homes if they keep it up,'' said Richard Johnson, 76, of Lake Los Angeles.

He and his wife have little left they can do to conserve, Johnson said.

``In the summertime, being out here in the desert, we open our windows to let the breeze in,'' Johnson said. ``The only time we run our air conditioning is when we have company.''

At Antelope Valley Hospital, an official warned that higher electricity prices will raise costs more than what the facility itself spends for power.

``It's going to make everything more expensive for all of us, in everything that we buy that involves energy,'' said Norm Andrews, senior vice president for operations. ``Our oxygen that we buy has to be produced and the production process requires energy in order to produce oxygen. So we're not going to only have the direct increase as a result of our costs going up, but also an indirect increase as a result of the suppliers that provide us with products.''

The electricity rate hike could cost the Palmdale School District as much as $1 million, and is actually the third increase in energy costs, Superintendent Nancy Smith said. It is already contending with higher prices for natural gas and for school bus fuel.

``It's going to really hurt in our budget,'' Smith said. ``That money's got to come from someplace, which means it's probably going to impact either employees or programs next year. It's not pleasant.''

Smith also expects California's energy problems will mean rolling blackouts in coming months, when the district needs electricity to air- condition classrooms.

``I think it will end up being quite a problem for us this summer,'' Smith said.

At Lancaster City Hall, an official said the city spent $760,000 on electricity during the 1999-2000 fiscal year, and also administers a street-light assessment district that spent about $1.6 million on electricity and maintenance.

The rate hike means either turning off street lights or seeking a hike in assessments, now $45 a year. A rate hike would likely be under $2 a month, said Lancaster Finance Department Director Gary Hill.

Lancaster invested $500,000 on more energy-efficient lights and equipment, including upgrading lighting at parks, replacing 1,500 light fixtures, and installing 120 occupancy sensors that turn off lights when a room is empty.

Both Lancaster and Palmdale embarked on energy conservation measures in January. Those measures included reducing lighting at parks, turning off the twinkle lights along Lancaster Boulevard and at the Palmdale Playhouse, and eliminating the use of personal space heaters.