“Government agencies are tightening their energy belts these days. The result is dimmer buildings and chillier, quieter offices.When additional Northwest electrical power began flowing south to help quell California’s energy woes and local electric and gas rates began to rise, Washington Governor Gary Locke called on all state and local government agencies to reduce electric and natural gas use by 10 percent. Locke’s late-January energy supply alert drew quick reaction from Island County and its cities as well as the U.S. Navy. By Feb. 5, the Island County commissioners appointed an energy management team and began making further cuts to the energy-saving plan they already had in place. Commissioner Bill Thorn said county staff members have been instructed to turn off all computers, printers and office machines at night and, in some cases, replace overhead fixtures with desk lamps. Thorn himself decided to remove two of the four florescent tubes above his desk and says he still has sufficient light.In a memo to staff members, management team leaders pointed out that personal computers average about 360 watts which means that it uses about 0.1 kilowatts per hour.That doesn’t seem like too much, but it can begin to add up if you leave it on forever, particularly if you have as many computers as we do, said the memo. It goes on to remind computer users that screen savers do not save energy. Just turning off the monitor will save 30-60% of computer energy consumption.In addition, the county’s management team intends to conduct regular energy audits of each county building.We are taking it quite seriously, Thorn said.That’s also the case at Coupeville Town Hall where Anna Tamura, the town’s clerk-treasurer, says they’ve already turned down the temperature of their hot water tank and lowered office thermostats. They too are turning off all lights and office machines at night.There’s not much more we can do, said Tamura noting that town government is already a pretty small operation.Oak Harbor has also taken action, says the city’s Krista Janes-Blackburn. Already, 40 florescent tube lights have been pulled out of service, water heaters have been turned down and staff members have been told to turn off lights and heat whenever they leave a workspace.The city’s Public Works plant has shifted work hours to earlier in the day so that they will not be running during peak use periods in the afternoon. At the waste water treatment facility, aerator running time has been reduced to minimum levels and the plant’s sledge digestor has been adjusted so that it uses more methane gas than natural gas as fuel.At City Hall, Janes-Blackburn said officials are calling for an energy audit to find more ways to conserve. In the meantime, visitors can expect a somewhat chillier reception in city offices because thermostats have turned down.We’re wearing our sweaters, she said.As the island’s largest employer, the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is a city onto itself. A city which uses a lot of electricity. But the base’s Resource Efficiency Manager Kevin Evans has a quick answer when asked to define exactly how much.A lot less than we did a year ago, he says.Evans is eager to point out ways the Navy has reduced its electricity usage, particularly now when energy is in short supply, demand is high and costs to consumers continue to rise.For one thing, building lights are turned off when they’re not needed or when the sun or limited lighting can take over. In addition, much of the base’s light fixtures, bulbs or tubes have been upgraded with more energy efficient products. The result, said Evans is about $23,300 in savings each month just in lighting.The massive aircraft hangers used to all be lit with what are known as high-pressure sodium fixtures, which Evans said were big energy users. They also blanketed the entire area in a yellowish hue that made it more difficult for crews to differentiate the colors of things such as wiring.Today, the hangers have been converted to metal halide lights which require less power, can be focused to a certain work area and produce a white light that is often compared to natural sunlight.Electric heaters have also been improved. Evans said that hanger heaters automatically turn off when outside doors are opened past a certain point.The base has cut energy waste in other areas too. Energy is not just electricity to us, said Evans. That means things like water, steam and natural gas usage have also been tightened up.As natural gas prices continue to rise, NAS Whidbey and other bases have been given the go ahead to use alternate energy sources such as diesel or other oil-burning generators.In all, Evans said that since energy conservation measures were first introduced at NAS Whidbey in 1985, the base has dropped energy consumption by nearly 29 percent. “