Rolling blackouts — an ominous term that's almost as frightening as it sounds. California has had them in the past and is experiencing them again. Thousands are going without power there. Utah may not be far behind.

The time when gasoline, water and electricity seemed to promise an unlimited supply are behind us. An era of caution and care is taking over. When Utah went through a drought, the state's residents responded by impressively cutting back on the amount of water they were using on their lawns and in other areas of their lives. The push paid off.

Now, Utahns may have to put their "conservation skills" to work again. This time with electrical power.

Even though massive power cuts have yet to cripple the state, now is a good time to get a head start on preventing future outages.

One of the big drains in recent years is the personal computer. Re-configuring computers to use limited power when not in use and turning off computers, printers and other devices when they stand idle would save a great deal of power.

Utah is a desert country, and people try to cool it off. But setting air conditioners to 77 degrees instead of 67 degrees in the summer would save a great drain on the power grid, as well as the family paycheck.

On the flip side, during the winter, setting the thermostat at 55 degrees and tugging one more blanket from the closet would save money and electricity.

Washing only "full loads" of clothes in the washing machine and developing the habit of turning off unneeded lights also make a difference.

In the end, historians may look back at the late 20th century in America and cluck their tongues at the amount of self-indulgence. With a little forethought and commitment, however, the early 21st century may be viewed as a model of how people can adjust to scarcity by using common sense and conservation.

Utahns have already shown they can make changes when it comes to saving water.

Now it's time to call on those same internal resources to help lower the need for electric power.