Super Bowl Viewers Urged to Huddle, Save Electricity

First it was Christmas lights. Now, in the interests of energy conservation, the California Independent System Operator is taking on the National Football League’s big game and television’s great advertising blitz.

Cal-ISO, the agency that oversees the state’s stressed-out electricity grid, is urging Californians to watch this Sunday’s Super Bowl XXXV with a friend to save electricity. And they’re not kidding.

“I haven’t heard of a specific Super Bowl Sunday load forecast,” said Kellan Fluckiger, Cal-ISO’s chief operating officer. “I’m not trying to be facetious.” He said it is possible that electricity demand could rise when millions of TV sets tune in to the matchup between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens at 3:15 p.m. PST.

As California grapples with crippling electricity shortages, making conservation a way of life is crucial to help the state through its energy crisis, Fluckiger said.

“If you want to go to a buddy’s house and watch the football game,” Fluckiger said, “by all means do it.”

This is not the first time that Californians have been asked to alter their Super Bowl behavior for the greater good. During the drought of the early 1990s, residents were urged to reduce toilet flushing during commercial breaks and at halftime to save scarce water resources.

Fluckiger did not say whether it might just be better, given the low-scoring potential of this year’s contest, to turn the television off.