In fear of the unpredictable power outages in California, Scott McNealy, the chief executive at computer giant Sun Microsystems, has resorted to carrying a flashlight with him at all times.
The network computer maker will be US$8 million to US$9 million over the annual budget for its facilities in California because of high energy costs.
"I don't know about you but I carry a flashlight everywhere I go," McNealy said. "We've got third world power out there."
California's summer of blackouts could cost its economy almost US$22 billion in lost productivity and chop as many as 135,000 jobs in the state, according to an industry association study.
With energy prices expected to soar as the year progresses, the executives surveyed by the Business Council, an association of corporate executives, urged further liberalisation of the energy market and sought new incentives for exploration.
"Consensus expectations are for higher petroleum and electricity costs over the balance of this year," said J.P. Morgan Chase executive William Harrison.
The blackouts - the most visible result of an energy crisis caused by California's disastrous 1996 experiment with power market deregulation - are forecast to continue through the summer as warm temperatures keep air conditioning demand high.
The industry groups that commissioned the study hope to use it to campaign against a new, tiered power rate structure, which they claim will pass too much of the burden of paying for California's energy crisis on to industrial customers.
That rate proposal would slap residential customers who use the most electricity with average rate hikes of between 35 and 40 percent, while industrial users could face rate hikes of 50 percent or more.
McNealy said there must also be another look at building nuclear power plants.
In the meantime, he quipped that while Sun has a dress code requiring employees to come to work in clothes, that may change.
"We're thinking of backing that off a bit or even encouraging people to wear shorts because we're cranking up the thermostats," he said.
