RUNNER SEEKS POWER RELIEF.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Assemblyman George Runner said Monday he will seek legislation to free schools and colleges caught in ``interruptible-service'' contracts that during power shortages require them to shut down or pay electricity rates more than 100 times higher than normal.

College of the Canyons has been among those campuses hit by skyrocketing energy bills - $126,000 for 10 days of power in 2000 - as it chooses to pay penalty rates and stay open, rather than shut down.

``The last thing we need to do is have an electricity crisis grow into an educational crisis,'' said Runner, R-Lancaster, who held a joint press conference with high school district officials in the Antelope Valley.

Many businesses and some schools have signed up for the interruptible program with Southern California Edison that allows them to receive cheaper electricity prices in return for a promise to stop electricity use during shortages.

If College of the Canyons decides to keep using power after the state declares an emergency shortage of power reserves, the college pays higher rates - from 8 1/2 cents a kilowatt hour to $9, a spokesman said.

Already the college has amassed $126,000 in fines, and expects to have higher-than-usual energy bills for January as it continues to use power instead of shutting down, a spokesman said.

``It's our desire to be out from under the I-6 rate,'' college spokesman John McElwain said. ``If he can expedite the process . . . then that's great.''

``If we're out from under that penalty rate, we're saving taxpayer dollars,'' he said.

As a private school, California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, would not be specifically covered under the proposed legislation. Runner's staff, however, said it would hope to draft the legislation in a way that would give regulators the opportunity to consider that campus as well.

Participants normally are allowed to pull out of the program each year in November, but the state Public Utilities Commission in October temporarily suspended the opt-out provision until March 31.

Runner also said another option that should be considered is providing financial assistance to schools with high energy costs through a revolving loan fund.

In the Antelope Valley, the high school district and the community college have been part of the interruptible program.

To avoid paying skyrocketing energy bills, Antelope Valley Union High School District is sending students home early this week, and Antelope Valley College has moved most intercession classes into one building and is renting a diesel-powered auxiliary generator.

Staff Writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this story.