Blackouts at Great America

2001 Events

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Blackouts

Puppy got a little bit afraid of the rides and because of his concern about California's power "crisis" he kept freaking out about rolling black outs and getting stuck upside down on a ride. I found the following note on the back of the map:

Paramount's Great America works closely with local officials to make sure they are notified of and prepared for "rolling blackouts". All of the rides are designed, built and operated to ensure the safety of passengers during any change in power, including an outage.

Now Puppy doesn't have to worry about getting stuck upside-down!

My friend Jeremy just emailed me this press release about this important issue...

Some may think California is still in the grips of Electric Mayhem

Dancing | Rides
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Adventures

For immediate release
For further information:
Paramount’s Great America PR Team, 408-986-5986 power to remain “on” at Paramount’s Great America

SUMMARY The power will remain on at Paramount’s Great America all season long after the park reached a voluntary agreement with Silicon Valley Power to cut usage by 10 percent on high-demand days. The decrease in usage will include behind-the-scenes conservation that should have little or no impact on park guests.

Santa Clara, Calif. – The lights will stay on and the rides will remain running at Paramount’s Great America this summer. Paramount’s Great America has joined 18 other companies in Santa Clara which have agreed to voluntarily reduce power usage up to 10 percent when called on by Silicon Valley Power, the city-owned power company. In exchange for this on-demand reduction in power usage, these companies are not subject to rolling outages. Rides and all other attractions will operate without the likelihood of a stoppage.

“This is fantastic news for our guests and for the community,” said Gayle Ando, the park’s general manager. “Our guests can be reassured that rides and other attractions won’t be stopped by a rolling blackout. And by voluntarily reducing power usage, we help lessen the possibility of blackouts throughout the city.” The park will reduce its demand in a number of ways:

Decorative water features in the park may be turned off
Air conditioning in selected buildings may be reduced or turned off
Filtration of non-potable water may be reduced
Decorative lighting in the park may be reduced or turned off.

These conservation measures should not be noticeable to guests. In the event the park does need to close one or two smaller rides, they will be closed for only an hour or two

These efforts are in addition to the park’s ongoing conservation efforts, which include eliminating nighttime decorative lighting, reducing lighting and power demand “backstage” and installing new energy-efficient equipment.

“We have always been and remain completely committed to the safety of our guests,” said Ando. “This agreement means we can also provide great peace of mind for park-goers.”

All of the park’s rides are designed, built and operated to ensure the safety of guests during any change in power, including an outage.

Call 408-988-1776 or visit the park on-line at www.pgathrills.com for more information on Paramount's Great America's 2001 season.

Paramount's Great America is owned and operated by Paramount Parks.

Paramount Parks, a unit of Viacom Inc., is a leading developer and operator of regional theme parks and location-based entertainment attractions. The company currently manages: Paramount's Kings Island (Cincinnati, Ohio); Paramount's Kings Dominion (Richmond, Va.); Paramount's Great America (Santa Clara, Calif.); Paramount's Carowinds (Charlotte, N.C.); Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, Ontario, Canada); and Star Trek: The Experience( at the Las Vegas Hilton (Las Vegas, Nev.).

Viacom is the No. 1 vehicle in the world for advertisers, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising and online.