Ever since Pitt County (N.C.) Schools began regulating the lights at athletic fields in the district - a move intended to save money and limit electricity - players, coaches and fans have been experiencing unexpected blackouts.
According to The Daily Reflector of Greenville, the school system's new energy-management program operates based on a master list of athletic schedules submitted by coaches and athletic directors. Events are entered into the system as practices or games, with lights scheduled for use from 5:30 to 8 p.m. for practices and 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. for games. Most of the problems thus far have been because of human error or scheduling mix-ups. "It's a new system, so we're working through some bugs, but in the long run hopefully the control will be beneficial to us financially and also to the schools from a monitoring standpoint," Aaron Beaulieu, associate superintendent of operations for Pitt County Schools, told reporter Ronnie Woodward, adding that as a cost-savings measure, the new approach already is working. "We know that right now they are definitely not running to the length of time they were running last year."
The power outages have impacted multiple teams - including the softball team at Greenville's D.H. Conley High. A March 7 game against Beddingfield was entered into the system as a "practice," resulting in a final-inning blackout that occurred when a batter was approaching the plate. "What scares me the most is the ball getting put into play, the lights going out and somebody getting hurt," Conley softball coach Wayne Deans said. "I completely understand the reason behind it, and I'm all for cutting back on expenses so hopefully we can keep teachers in the classroom, but we have to get the bugs out of the system."
The lights also have gone out during a D.H. Conley soccer match and a softball game between J.H. Rose and South Central high schools. Players in that game used their cell phones for light as they gathered their equipment from the dugouts and exited the field.
Despite the inevitable delays caused by blackouts, district officials are convinced they're finally seeing the light regarding efficient electricity usage. "In the long run, it will probably be worth it because the lights will be used appropriately," Pitt County athletics director Ron Butler told the Reflector. "In the past, we would have schools letting others use their fields and their lights. They would just flip on the lights at any moment, and they didn't have to pay a bill."
