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CA: Heat prompts power emergency in Calif. (Rolling blackouts in the offing?)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 7/24/06 | Jordan Robertson - ap

Posted on 07/24/2006 9:27:40 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

SAN FRANCISCO - Power companies worked to restore electricity to thousands of customers throughout California early Monday as a scorching heat wave threatened to push the state into a power emergency with the potential for more blackouts.

Authorities were looking into several deaths possibly related to the high temperatures, which hit the triple digits in some areas on Sunday.

With temperatures again expected to top 100 degrees, power demand was projected to reach an all-time high Monday and prompt some voluntary blackouts, in which some businesses agree to have their power shut off temporarily in exchange for lower rates, according to the Independent System Operator, California's power grid manager.

Those blackouts could become involuntary if customers don't conserve electricity, said ISO spokesman Gregg Fishman.

"It's actually critical that people conserve power," Fishman said.

Monday's forecast called for high temperatures in northern and central California to reach 111 degrees in Morgan Hills, 110 in Fresno, Stockton and Modesto and 109 in Bakersfield. Southern California's Woodland Hills was expected to reach 106.

No relief was expected until at least midweek, as weather conditions conspired to bake California's normally cool coast for the fourth straight day and bring Midwest-style humidity into the usually arid Central Valley.

Heavy electricity use as people turned up their air conditioners caused blackouts throughout the state over the weekend.

Early Monday, some 100,000 power customers in Northern California and the Central Valley still had no electricity, along with 44,000 in Southern California. That was down from a high of 180,000 customers affected over the weekend.

More than 100 patients were evacuated from the Beverly Healthcare Center in Stockton on Sunday after temperatures reached 115 degrees and the nursing home's air conditioning gave out.

Two patients were hospitalized with heat-related stress — one died, and the other was in critical condition, said police spokesman Pete Smith.

Investigators were looking into possible criminal charges, although it was too early to tell whether the facility's operators were negligent, Smith said.

"It was very hot inside the facility, and you have to remember we're talking about elderly and infirm people who can't withstand the heat like a younger person would," he said.

A call to Beverly Healthcare's corporate headquarters in Fort Smith, Ark., was not returned Sunday.

Another Central Valley nursing home, Woodland Skilled Nursing Facility, evacuated its residents when managers realized its air conditioning system wasn't operating at peak capacity, according to the state Department of Health Services. No injuries were reported there.

In Modesto, a patient at Doctors Medical Center died Saturday of heart failure apparently caused by the heat after being admitted with a 106-degree temperature, hospital officials said. Two others were hospitalized with 108-degree temperatures.

In Kern County, authorities were investigating four possible heat-related deaths, including two from the past week.

Bakersfield gardener Joaquin Ramirez, 38, may have died of heat stroke after collapsing on the job late Wednesday. And on Thursday, a woman, whose name was not released, was found dead along a bike path in Ridgecrest.

In Arizona, heat is believed to have contributed to the deaths of two transient men in Phoenix over the weekend. One, believed to be in his 50s, died Sunday, and another, a 28-year-old man, died Saturday.

The deaths came during three days of record-breaking temperatures in Phoenix. The temperature soared to 114 degrees Sunday, breaking the record of 112 degrees set in 1906. Temperatures reached 118 degrees Friday and 116 degrees Saturday, breaking the previous record for both days of 112.

Meanwhile, in St. Louis, about 237,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity Monday morning, down from the more than a half-million that were left in the dark last week after strong storms cut the power and temperatures soared into triple digits. Four deaths in the region were attributed to the storms or heat.

In New York, thousands of Queens residents were facing their second week without power because of a blackout that at one point affected 25,000 customers. By Monday morning, electricity had been restored to about 22,000 of those homes, buildings and businesses, utility Consolidated Edison said.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: blackouts; brownouts; california; electricity; energy; thinkofstlouis; weather
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To: basil
Seems to me that California better get busy drilling off shore and building refineries along the coast to deliver all that power plants to run the electricity out there.

Seems to me that California better get off it's collective butt and build some nuclear power plants. If we get started now and run through the gauntlet of environmental-group lawsuits, new plants could be putting out power sometime in 2030. Even if the elderly have to suffer through the blackouts without A/C now, maybe those who manage to live for another couple of decades can get power when they need it most.
21 posted on 07/24/2006 9:42:30 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: RexBeach

The San Fernando Valley, Southern California. It was miserable. We're used to getting to about 110 during the summer, but not without power!


22 posted on 07/24/2006 9:45:03 AM PDT by The Blitherer ("I left orders to be awakened at any time...even if I'm in a cabinet meeting." -Ronald Reagan)
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To: NormsRevenge
More MSM nonsense.

California has plenty of power. The ISO forcast has been ahead of the curve all week and is today.

California ISO Forcast.

23 posted on 07/24/2006 9:45:42 AM PDT by Jeff Gordon (Is tractus pro pensio.)
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To: NormsRevenge

The only way we will ever get more power plantsm hopefully nukes, is everyone refuse to conserve power.

If we have enough blackouts even the envirowhackos use power and will shut up about new facilities.


24 posted on 07/24/2006 9:46:37 AM PDT by dalereed
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To: NormsRevenge

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged Los Angeles residents to cut their power usage.

In overheated Woodland Hills, residents scoffed.

"I have to use my air conditioner 24-seven. It's hard to sleep without it on at night," said Al Van Hook, a personal trainer. "Over the hill at City Hall it's automatically 10 to 15 degrees cooler than we are out here, so it's easy for them to say we should conserve…. If you're in 119-degree weather, who's going to turn off their air conditioner?"


25 posted on 07/24/2006 9:48:35 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: Jeff Gordon

We're a couple major power plants going off line away from blackouts, we've been very lucky so far. Here's hoping the luck continues.


26 posted on 07/24/2006 9:48:42 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ......Help the "Pendleton 8' and families -- http://www.freerepublic.com/~normsrevenge/)
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To: NormsRevenge

My street lights have been out all week.
There was a reading of 119 in Woodland Hills Ca. over the weekend. It is HOT over here in Canoga Park.


27 posted on 07/24/2006 9:54:30 AM PDT by calljack (Sometimes your worst nightmare is just a start.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Highs in the 50s?

Man, Alaska is looking better and better each passing day.

28 posted on 07/24/2006 9:54:37 AM PDT by akorahil (Thank You and God bless all Veterans. Truly, the real heroes.)
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To: BurbankKarl

I honestly can't fathom how anyone lived in my area (Burbank) before AC installed in the home. My home was built in '49 and had no central air-- and I don't think the window units came into use until the '60's.

The house is really cheesily built with scant insulation and single pane windows.

We have a nice new 12 seer central AC unit installed and so the house remains quite livable even in this heat-- but how was this possible when the house was built. What the hell were they thinking?


29 posted on 07/24/2006 9:57:56 AM PDT by agooga (I lied-- No one died.)
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To: agooga

they had fans! that is what I had growing up in Van Nuys....I got a window unit when I was 17 from Adrays!


30 posted on 07/24/2006 9:59:18 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: NormsRevenge
Just keeping you up to date :
We had three more blackouts over the weekend here at the house in Simi. The last one was three hours on Sunday from 4-7. What does that term "rolling" blackout mean anyway? I'm beginning to think it might be a variant of an old Indian word meaning "stick it to Simi Valley."
31 posted on 07/24/2006 10:01:43 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

I'm all for nuclear power plants--I just figured that CA would NEVER even consider them.


32 posted on 07/24/2006 10:04:06 AM PDT by basil (Exercise your 2nd amendment - buy another gun today)
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To: ZGuy

rolling blackouts are when the power company starts shutting off power in a deliberate manner, neighborhood by neighborhood, based on a certain order.

It sounded like Glendale was turning off certain areas the past two days, when they met the maximum capacity of the transformers....the way they explained it on the radio, if they let it go above maximum, the transformer could explode, and the repair would take days...


33 posted on 07/24/2006 10:08:23 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: BurbankKarl
If it is a local capacity issue for transformers, that would make more sense as to why our neighborhood has gone through five 2-3 hour black/brownouts in one week and others haven't had any. I was being sarcastic when I asked what rolling blackouts were because I thought the power company was just knocking out Simi's power and not rolling them around at all (sharing the pain), but I like your suggestion better. At least that way I don't feel singled out.

At least one good thing happened yesterday though. Because we left the house when it got too hot, we ended up buying my four year old his first two-wheeler!

34 posted on 07/24/2006 10:16:17 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: basil
I'm all for nuclear power plants--I just figured that CA would NEVER even consider them.

Hopefully the impact on the elderly might make some headway against the environmental groups. California is undergoing blackouts like some third-world nation because of them, and people will die as a result.
35 posted on 07/24/2006 10:17:05 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

Let's hope that the terrible blackouts will at least have the effect of opening some of those enviro-nazi's eyes!


36 posted on 07/24/2006 10:20:06 AM PDT by basil (Exercise your 2nd amendment - buy another gun today)
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To: basil

State of CA on line saying power consumption 40% higher than during rolling blackouts.


37 posted on 07/24/2006 10:28:55 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: agooga
Part of it is conditioning, part of it is changes in society. First, it isn't so much the temperature as the temperature change that gets to most people. When you walk out of a 79 degree building into 105 degree heat, the temperature change is drastic and your body has a hard time coping with it. It's a massive temperature adjustment in a short period of time, and the human body just isn't adapted to take that kind of stress. If you were to have NO A/C at all (not in your car, not in your office, not in your house), your body would adjust to the rising temperature as it climbed througout the day and have far less difficulty with it.

Another major factor is the change in society. In the 1940's and 50's, Southern California typically shut down during the hottest part of the day. Work was done early in the morning or in the evening, and few businesses were open in July after about 2PM. A/C eliminated the need for the afternoon siesta, and society adjusted to it by implementing an all-day workday. We expect to be able to go shopping at 4PM on a Wednesday, or visit the Dry Cleaners at 3PM on a Monday, and consider that to be "normal" society. That wasn't "normal" in 1950's California, and only became so after the air conditioner became common.
38 posted on 07/24/2006 10:29:22 AM PDT by Arthalion
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To: So Cal Rocket
Switch off the coffee maker at 10 a.m., leave a full pot a

Actually, I like my coffee cold. I brew the pot very strong and let it sit until it cools off. Then drink it with lots of sugar. Just a preference.

Although reheated coffee just tastes terrible..

39 posted on 07/24/2006 10:30:19 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: NormsRevenge
"Democratic amendments, like Mr. Farr’s, have consistently dealt with major power grid vulnerabilities."

Never knew Pelosi was after Jay Leno's job. Pretty good comic material. ;)

40 posted on 07/24/2006 10:31:01 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
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