City’s Ready for Y2K and Has the Blackout to Prove It

After the power went out in Los Alamitos at about 7 p.m. Monday, an emergency generator was fired up and City Council, city staff and some residents adjourned to the conference room of the Police Department to resume the City Council meeting without further interruption.

Power was lost in Rossmoor and Long Beach too, according to Southern California Edison spokesman Tom Boyd.

The specific cause of the blackout was not immediately known, but Boyd said it involved a 12,000-volt underground circuit at Spring Street near the San Gabriel River.

Thirty percent of customers had their power restored at 7:30 p.m. but the power went out again at 8:50 p.m. It finally was restored about 25 minutes later to the 2,125 customers involved, Boyd said.

The first item on the City Council agenda, ironically, was the Y2K Contingency Plan presentation.

Cassandra Frye, support services manager for the Police Department, said having to forgo the Power Point part of the presentation and using a generator to provide lighting “made for an interesting meeting.”

“The ambience was correct. It really created the right atmosphere,” she said.

She said the city has been planning for Y2K for six months.

Frye assured residents that staffing for police will be 2 1/2 times greater than usual, and an emergency generator has been acquired.

“If something goes wrong, we’re ready,” she said.

Ana Cholo-Tipton can be reached at (714) 966-5890.