Peak energy situation in Juneau

Apparently avalanches have taken out Juneau's electric supply, so they're on backup generators, which cost about 5x the usual electric rate. People are suddenly big into conservation (story here).

First, there was a run on energy-efficient light bulbs. When those ran out, people began asking for lamp oil. But when they started demanding clothespins in this land of mist and rain, it was clear Alaska's capital city was caught in a serious energy crunch.

Stores, though open, went partially dark. Neon signs were switched off and vending machines unplugged. At home, residents of this former Gold Rush town began living a little bit like pioneers, dusting the snow off the grill, stringing clotheslines in the backyard and flicking off their TV sets. Within a week, electrical usage across town was down as much as 30 percent.
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Obviously that's bad news for them, but good for an example of what might happen when Peak Oil becomes serious. Particularly near the end of the article:

Energy expert Allen Meier of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is visiting Juneau this week to offer advice on the crisis. He said the closest comparison may be Brazil in 2001, when severe drought gripped the hydropower-dependent country. Brazilians were told to reduce their electricity usage by 20 percent or be disconnected.
"In two months, the whole country cut their demand by 20 percent and they never really returned to the same level of consumption after that," Meier said.
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