By John Howard, AP
SACRAMENTO,
Calif. –– California declared an unprecedented electricity
alert Thursday after its overwhelmed power grid, crippled by idled
power plants and scant supplies, struggled to meet demand.
Hundreds of
companies were ordered to cut back on electricity use, but power
managers said they hoped to avoid the rolling blackouts that would
affect thousands of homes and businesses across the state.
Instead, the
huge state and federal pumps that move water from northern to
Southern California were temporarily shut down to save power.
"We're
hoping that with these resources we can avoid the blackouts,"
said Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the Independent System
Operator, the power grid manager.
Demand reached
31,600 megawatts Thursday evening, nearly the maximum available,
and authorities declared California's first Stage Three alert.
Reserves dipped below 1,000 megawatts, about enough electricity
for 1 million homes in the nation's most populous state.
The power
crunch – which hit even before winter had begun – has
been blamed on cold weather in the Northwest, the shutdown of
some power plants for repairs and the effects of utility deregulation
in California.
With supplies
of electricity running perilously low, California officials declared
a Stage Two emergency at 4 a.m. Thursday. It was the fourth such
declaration in as many days and the eighth in three weeks.
Under the
Stage Two emergency, hundreds of companies that had signed "interruptible"
service contracts in exchange for huge rebates were ordered to
reduce or shut down their power. Others awaited notification to
do likewise.
Computer chip
manufacturer Intel stood ready to turn off 50 percent of the lights
at its 6,500-employee installation in Folsom.
"If that's
not enough, we'll take the lights down 100 percent and work in
the dark," Intel spokesman Bill Mueller said.
Officials
had said a Stage Three alert would trigger rolling blackouts,
lasting about an hour in any given area and potentially affecting
hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
A Stage Two
emergency is declared when power reserves fall – or are expected
to fall – below 5 percent. California has never before had
a statewide Stage Three emergency, which is declared when reserves
fall below 1.5 percent.
The ISO said
a 500-megawatt power plant unexpectedly went down Thursday afternoon,
further stressing the system. The power manager also said utilities,
which try to buy power at least a day in advance to obtain the
best possible price, were buying power with just 10 minutes of
lead time as available supplies dwindled.
The alerts
are the latest in a series of problems to bedevil California's
deregulated electricity system.
The phased-in
deregulation of California's $20 billion electrical power industry
was supposed to lower prices by creating greater competition.
But demand for electricity has outstripped supply, in part because
of a growing population and a booming high-tech economy.
Electricity
is also in short supply because energy companies held off building
new power plants while deregulation was in the planning stages.
In addition, deregulation has forced utilities to sell off their
power-generating assets, such as dams and plants, and import electricity
from neighboring states, where power demand is high right now
because of a cold snap.
Earlier this
week, energy companies and state officials asked Californians
to delay turning on their Christmas lights until well after nightfall
and to keep thermostats set at 68 degrees. After lighting the
Christmas tree at the state Capitol, Gov. Gray Davis quickly pulled
the plug to conserve energy.
California
inspectors have launched surprise inspections of power plants
that have closed for repairs to see whether the shutdowns were
deliberate attempts to drive up costs.
Shutdowns
were part of the reason that one-quarter of the system's capacity
was down on Wednesday by 11,000 megawatts, enough to supply 11
million homes. Of that amount, state officials said, 4,000 megawatts
were from plant breakdowns.
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