“Jim Skiff, store manager at Freeland Ace Hardware, restocks a rack of compact fluorescent light bulbs. The low-wattage bulbs have been a popular item during the past few weeks as an energy crisis has crept up the West Coast from California.Matt Johnson / staff photoEven before Gov. Gary Locke announced an official energy supply alert last Friday to acknowledge dwindling statewide reserves of electric power, South Whidbey businesses, industry, individuals and government offices had begun to cut back on the watts and kilowatts they use.Even though South Whidbey is one of only a few places in Western Washington where the price of electricity is fixed at a pre-crisis level, there are plenty of people who are watching more than just their pocketbooks during this power crunch.Gov. Locke announced last week that he has ordered state government offices and agencies to cut electricity consumption by 10 percent to make up for a shortfall in winter hydroelectric generation. The state is also losing reserve power because generators such as the Bonneville Power Association are required to sell surplus power to electricity-starved California.Puget Sound Energy spokesman Karl Kirn said Monday that while PSE’s South Whidbey electricity customers are not seeing much of a difference in this year’s power bills over last, a failure to conserve will cost all the utility’s customers in the near future. The more those customers conserve, the longer the utility can wait to build more fossil-fuel-powered generating plants. Kirn said that whenever a utility is forced to build such a plant, it costs customers in terms of dollars and cents and in air quality.PSE is not offering any incentive programs to electric customers who conserve. However, Kirn said, those customers can generate their own rewards on their bi-monthly power bills.I think the reward comes from the reduced bills, he said.Bryan Nichols, general manager of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, said his company must conserve power. The company uses electricity to run its welders, its lights and hundreds of tools in its boatyard. Though the company fuels its forklifts and heaters with propane, it has taken such a hard hit from double-digit propane price increases that conservation of all power sources is mandatory. It’s always in our interest, Nichols said.The company began conserving electricity long before the current power crunch began to loom on the horizon, Nichols said. Yard equipment and lights are turned off at night, and compact fluorescent light bulbs are used In office spaces.Those bulbs seem to be one of the most popular ways for homeowners as well to cut power use. Using 75 percent less electricity than standard incandescent bulbs, the compact florescents have been a hot seller at Freeland Ace Hardware. Store manager Jim Skiff said he sold out before restocking the $13 to $15 bulbs this week. They’ve really increased in popularity recently, he said.Ace is conserving energy right along with its customers. During the holiday season, store personnel turned Christmas lights off at night. In the store’s propane stove display area, a half-dozen display models that were normally lit most of the day sit cold and dark. Skiff said the stoves remain a popular alternative to electric heating, even though the price of propane is still about 75 percent higher than last winter.Energy-saving behavior has also made its way into South Whidbey’s schools. School district facilities manager Rick Pitt said Monday that the schools are doing what they can to reduce energy bills. The district is already on a reduced-rate schedule with PSE because power at the school buildings can be shut off by the utility during crisis periods. That happened on two nights in December, forcing the district to reschedule its nighttime custodial services.To participate in the conservation effort more actively, the district has installed motion sensors in some classrooms that shut off lights automatically when the rooms are not in use. Thermostats at the electrically heated schools have also been turned down, dropped from 70 degrees to 68. That makes quite a bit of difference, he said.Gov. Locke’s energy conservation plan requires government agencies to continue their conservation efforts for at least 90 days. Utilities are also affected by the plan in that they may use temporary diesel generators for the next 90 days to generate more electricity. “