California fears blackouts

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Originally Published Tuesday, September 19, 2000

State fears blackouts * Power users urged to conserve * Heat wave to peak at 102 today By Reed Fujii Record Staff Writer

A late-summer heat wave set the Golden State aglow Monday, and utility officials warned that rolling blackouts could result as record temperatures could overburden California's electric grid at least through midweek.

Officials pleaded with power users to turn off idle computers and lights, avoid using major appliances through the afternoon and early evening, and turn up their thermostats as high as they could stand it.

The National Weather Service expects the highest temperatures to last through Wednesday, then drop a bit Thursday and Friday.

The heat didn't spare the usually cool Bay Area. Downtown San Francisco had a high of 91, a few degrees shy of the 94-degree record set in 1912. Oakland hit 87 degrees, coming close to a 1984 record of 94 degrees. Even coastal areas didn't get a break, with temperatures in the 80s.

At 1 p.m. Monday, a Stage 2 electrical-emergency declaration cut power to some commercial and industrial users that had opted for lower rates in return for being subject to service cutoffs.

Among those affected was J.R. Simplot Co., a fertilizer, chemical and animal feed producer in Lathrop.

"As of 2 o'clock today, we were disconnected from the power grid by PG&E," said Jim Carlson, Simplot's California manufacturing manager. The company's operations in Lathrop and Helm were affected.

While most of Simplot's 200 employees in Lathrop remained on the job conducting maintenance and other chores, about 20 administrative workers were sent home early.

"There's a high toll to pay when something like this happens," Carlson said. Emergency power outages earlier this summer didn't affect Simplot, which has a backup cogeneration system. However, that system was off line for routine maintenance this week.

Simplot and other users that opted for interruptable service, however, helped California avoid more-widespread outages, noted Stephanie McCorkle, a senior public-information officer with the California Independent System Operator, the central clearinghouse for the state's major utilities.

The widespread heat wave, hydroelectric reservoirs at end-of-summer low levels, and power plants off line because of breakdowns and maintenance all took their toll.

"We just lost two generators this morning we were hoping to have on line today due to mechanical problems," McCorkle said from her Folsom office. That cut 3,300 megawatts out of the state's usual power supply of 45,000 megawatts.

However, the system recovered 1,640 megawatts from interruptable users, and California also received emergency deliveries of federal power from the Northwest and Southwest. Both "helped us tremendously," she said.

As a result, the system met Monday's peak demand of 43,485 megawatts.

For comparison, one official noted that 1,000 megawatts is enough electricity to power all of San Francisco.

Lodi's electric utility is joining the chorus urging everyone to conserve electricity.

At work and home, people are being asked to turn off any nonessential lighting and equipment, such as copiers and coffee machines, and avoid using appliances if possible.

Rob Lechner, the Lodi utility's manager of customer programs, suggested setting air-conditioner thermostats at 85 degrees or higher.

His customers are also being urged to tune into Radio Lodi, at 1250 on the AM dial, to pick up the latest status of electrical usage.

Should California enter a Stage 3 electrical emergency and mandatory blackouts be imposed, Lechner said, the city would cut power to customers on two circuits, both mostly residential, for 90 minutes.

"After a 90-minute period, then we would switch to the next two (circuits) on the list and so on down until all the circuits are hit," he said.

For Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers, a rolling blackout could mean outages lasting from one to two hours, spokeswoman Jann Taber said Monday from her Sacramento office.

Those outages would be scattered across PG&E's 70,000-square-mile service area.

She would like to see the state avoid imposing such blackouts for the first time, however.

"It's important for the integrity of the state's electric grid that everybody pitches in where possible," Taber said. "If everybody pitches in as much as possible, it will prevent more-drastic measures."

The state's electric system is stretched as far as it can go, said Jim Detmers, California ISO's director of operations.

He expects demand to remain high, particularly as the heat wave is expected to peak today and Wednesday.

"That extended heat buildup is what really builds up the (electric) loads."

Electrical emergencies are declared depending on the California ISO's usage forecasts. Stage 1, reaching 7 percent of the operating reserve, results in public alerts and appeals to conserve use.

Stage 2 is declared when reserves are expected to be at 5 percent or less and results in cuts of power to interruptable users. Previously this year, Stage 2 emergencies were declared in late June, mid-July, late July to early August and mid-August because of hot weather. A fire affecting interstate power transmission lines triggered a Stage 2 declaration on Sept. 14.

An unprecedented Stage 3 emergency is declared when reserves are expected to hit 1.5 percent or less, Detmers said.

http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/6news091900.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 20, 2000


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