Posted on 07/27/2004 3:54:13 PM PDT by Robert357
For three days in a row last week, California broke all-time electricity consumption records as the mercury climbed over 90 degrees across much of the state.
And this is only July. Sizzling August still lies ahead, and the record is almost certain to be broken again.
``We still haven't seen our peak for this year,'' said Jim Detmers, acting chief operating officer of the Independent System Operator, manager of much of California's power grid.
The first statewide heat wave of the year has stirred fears of blackouts in California four years after the power system collapsed under the weight of high demand, market manipulation, a botched attempt at deregulation, and inadequate generation and transmission capacity.
Industry experts, citing improvements in transmission lines and the construction of new power plants, said a repeat of the rolling blackouts of 2001 is unlikely this summer.
Nevertheless, California's power market is still in flux, transmission bottlenecks persist, and customers have been falling out of the habit of conserving. Not only that, but California's reservoirs are lower than usual, which means there will be less hydroelectric power later this summer, when demand is highest.
And the wild card, as usual, is wildfires. They can take down transmission lines at the worst possible time, just when temperatures are soaring in late summer.
``As summer progresses, our reserves get tighter and tighter, the margins get thinner and thinner,'' said Jim McIntosh, director of ISO's grid operations. ``When in you're in that situation, it only takes one event'' to cause a crisis.
-----snip---
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to meet with business leaders Tuesday to urge them to volunteer for programs under which companies get a price break on power if they agree to curtail their electricity use when grid managers call of them.
On July 19, California broke the all-time record for power use, set in 1999, and then broke the new mark the next day, and did it again the day after that, when the amount of electricity surging through the grid reached 44,360 megawatts. At the same time, the state's power managers had to close seven major transmission lines threatened by a Southern California forest fire.
To cope with the crisis, officials asked people to scale back their electricity use until the evening. But the lights stayed on, and the ISO did not even have to issue an emergency warning of low reserves.
---snip---- The state's most notorious bottleneck is an 84-mile stretch of high-voltage lines that run between Northern and Southern California. An extra line that will allow an additional 1,500 megawatts to flow between the two regions is being added but will not be completed until the end of the year.--snip--
(Excerpt) Read more at kcal9.com ...
If you want to see the real details on what is happening and where the problems are go to the following.
Let the blackouts begin.
Well at least there is some reporting of what is going on.
This must be what has the girlie men on edge.
Actually the PGE folks out at Diablo Canyon deserve a special round of thanks for the work they did over the weekend. Monday could have been real ugly had loads been as forecast and the two Diablo Cayon projects not been operating.
...citing improvements in transmission lines and the construction of new power plants...
What improvements? I am not aware of anything significant that has been built or improved. They have put a few more megawatts on line, but just as many have shut down. That's progress?
Maybe they can buy some of ours since we're having capacity issues of our own. That's right... APS was accused of stealing from CA for overcharging for excess electricity we sold them two years ago. Nevermind.
Have we had a management change, I wonder?
Or maybe they are learning how to manage this stressed system.
Oh God, here we go. More of Arnold's excellent negotiations to come.
Another interesting story in the Sac BEE about the relative price for power during the heat wave and other things.
Click here for Sac Bee related article on power at bargain prices
Back when the energy crisis was at its peak, a day like Monday would have cost California a fortune.
Spurred by sweltering temperatures, the price of electricity surely would have surged to $300 a megawatt-hour or more, adding tens of millions of dollars to the state's energy bill.
Not anymore. Although Californians nearly set another record for electricity use Monday, wholesale prices stayed moderate.
Spot market power was selling for roughly $70 a megawatt-hour through much of California - a little more than usual, but a bargain compared with much of 2000 and 2001, when prices were $300 or more and occasionally topped $1,000. Utility officials say the state was burning through $1 billion a week at times.
Yeah, that and the loss of a single nuclear plant could black out large parts of the state.
That's right California, continue to beat those you need with the "hammer of the law" and see what will continue to happen.
It's the end of July and summer AKA the Fire Season is about over in Alaska. Leaves are beginning to change.
When does the first snow fly?
We got serious snow the day after Labor Day a few years back. It was great! The temperature never rose above freezing again until April, that same snow was still on the ground, and the deciduous trees never got to shed their leaves that were frozen in place before the dropping enzymes could work.
I would imagine that the mosquitos are pretty thick about now.
good luck!
Mosquitoes are about gone right here. They had a good start but then it got hot and dry so they missed some of their breeding season. Too bad. The smoke plumes from 55 or so wildfires merged to make a smoke blanket that covered half the state. We didn't see the sun for a couple weeks, but it didn't cool down much. It's pretty nice today, though.
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