RESIDENTS: SUBSIDIES FOR CONSERVATION FUEL SURGE IN ALTERNATIVES.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

As a summer of blackouts looms for most Californians, solar power - once derided as a boutique energy source for tree-lovers - has suddenly become so popular there's waiting lists of up to three months for rooftop installations.

With generous subsidies for solar power systems and sharply reduced electricity costs, the prospect of soaring energy rates and unreliable power supplies has prompted thousands of Southern California homeowners to explore alternatives.

Even Los Angeles residents, who have benefited from the Department of Water and Power's energy surplus, are lining up for sun power and other Green L.A. programs, officials said last week.

``Demand for some of these DWP initiatives has gone through the roof - no pun intended,'' said Angelina Galetiva, director of strategic planning for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

``It's insane. We have a big bottleneck.''

Officials from Southern California Edison said that conservation efforts have accelerated beyond expectations this year.

``I'd say interest has doubled, easily,'' said Jim Nall, the manager of mass market energy efficiency with SCE. ``It used to be that we had to go out and really promote the (conservation) programs, and this year, without really doing a lot, the customers are just flocking to us. I think it has everything to do with (the energy crisis).''

SCE spends about $90 million a year on conservation programs, an amount Nall said is expected to be spent by summer this year. Nall said many people are committing to buying energy-efficient products to receive rebates, with 1,200 applications coming in a week.

``We think this year people will make those commitments and act,'' Nall said.

That's certainly true in Los Angeles, where the number of businesses signed up for rate reductions through DWP energy-efficiency conservation programs skyrocketed from 200 last year to 2,800 today.

A $16 million conservation grant from the state to the DWP last week guarantees even greater participation, officials say, with Green L.A. conservation programs expected to save 60 megawatts of power for sale to the state power grid.

``Everybody's climbing aboard now,'' said DWP spokesman Eric Tharp, on his way to Newport Beach on Thursday to talk to recyclers about saving power. ``We're offering the highest rebates, and we're offering even more. Now's the time to step up for energy efficiency.''

It was 1972 when Sue Kaufman and her husband bought their 6,000- square-foot rambler on a one-acre lot in Encino. Wind power had seemed like a great idea until city officials nixed the beanstalk required to generate it.

Summer cooling bills, however, later rose to $600 a month - requiring them to shut off air conditioning through much of their house for all but company. Finally, a nudge from their daughter, with a graduate thesis on alternative energy, persuaded them to install a solar system.

``I'm just thrilled,'' said Kaufman, 59, whose 2.4-kilowatt system was installed Thursday. ``I just went out there, and my electric meter is going backwards - it's a kick.''

The Kaufmans waited two months for their $22,000 system - half payable by the DWP - and expect to save 20 percent on their power bill. A second phase is expected to save an additional 30 percent.

Before the power shortfall first darkened the state in January, only 50 DWP customers like the Kaufmans had signed up for solar systems packaged with rebates from the city that can exceed $10,000 - about half the cost of an average home system.

Since then, 50 more customers have had such systems installed, the DWP's Galetiva said, with 3,400 more on the solar waiting list.

``Everybody and their uncle's calling and evaluating the opportunities,'' she said.

They include Neutrogena Corp. - a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary in line for a DWP rebatable solar system, DWP-sponsored electric vehicles and a $1 million DWP energy efficiency tune-up at its plant near LAX airport. Also aboard are the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park, the Los Angeles Department of Sanitation's San Fernando Valley plant and the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown.

On Thursday, delegates from Greece visited with DWP officials to consult about installing a solar system for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

``Everybody's jumping on the bandwagon now,'' said Neutrogena Facilities Director Senaka Nanayakkara. ``You can't beat it: If everyone put in this kind of system in Northern and Southern California, every kilowatt helps to conserve energy - and help the bottom line.''

It took Nanayakkara between six and eight months to negotiate the 22,000- square-foot photovoltaic system to be installed on Neutrogena's roof before June - just before the peak of summer.

But it's worth it, he said, as not only will Neutrogena save millions on air conditioning costs, but eliminate pollution equal to 53 cars - or 164 pounds of nitrogen oxide; four pounds of sulphur dioxide and 513,000 pounds of carbon dioxide - through green energy.

If green is in, business has bloomed at one of Los Angeles' major solar suppliers.

Siemens Solar Industries of Camarillo, with a plant in Chatsworth, is the DWP's only solar power system contractor. Business at the privately owned company, one of the world's largest solar power system suppliers, has risen 500 percent since last year, Siemens officials said.

``It's definitely unprecedented. We've never seen this kind of call volume,'' said Raju Yanamandra, Siemens director of sales and marketing. ``We are on a roll at this point, and it's been like this for 2 1/2 months. I've had to add three to four people to take care of all the calls.''

The DWP's Green L.A program - www.greenla.com - is a $60 million-a-year umbrella of environmental initiatives spawned by the energy deregulation scheme blamed for California's current energy drought.

The program offers energy-saving incentives to customers willing to pay slightly more for clean alternative electricity, including wind, solar and some hydroelectric power. It also sponsors solar power systems through cash rebates, as well as rate reductions for businesses that save power.

Ratepayers who invest in solar can shave between 20 percent and 80 percent off their power bill, the DWP, solar manufacturers and installers said, enough to pay for the system in as little as 10 years.

For their trouble, the DWP will pay homeowners a $5 rebate - an amount deductible from the Siemens purchase price - for every watt of solar power added to a roof. Since a typical 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot home requires a 2-kilowatt system costing more than of $20,000, that's a $10,000 savings.

In comparison, the California Energy Commission offers $3 per watt, available to Edison and other customers of private utilities.

Rod Bergman, owner of Solar West Construction in Calabasas, said he's been deluged with calls. But he criticized the city's solar program as being mired in red tape and for offering taxable rebates.

``This whole thing could daisy-chain into a big path of destruction,'' said Bergman, who hasn't installed a single DWP rebatable system. ``Their numbers are all wrong.''

But Siemans and DWP officials disagreed, saying rebates could be taken off the front end of a purchase to avoid taxes and that there was a fast-track at City Hall for solar installation permits.

All they need, they say, is installers like Bergman to get with the program.

``Solar is hot right now,'' said Michael Wilson, foreman for Harrison Electric of Santa Fe Springs, whose crew just finished installing a system on Kaufman's home. ``Solar's taking off.''

Staff Writer Orith Goldberg contributed to this story.

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Photo: (color) Brandon Campos, left, and Steve Harrison put the finishing touches on a set of 32 solar panels they're installing on a home in Encino.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News