By Jennifer Coleman
Associated Press Writer
FOLSOM, Calif. –– Officials overseeing the state's strained
electric grid remained on alert Friday, a day after they averted
blackouts by shutting down enormous pumps that send water to central
and southern California. Their fears were eased slightly by the
decreasing likelihood that a cold front would push into the state
this weekend.
On Thursday,
California declared an unprecedented Stage Three electricity alert
after its overwhelmed electric grid – strapped by cold weather,
idled power plants and scant supplies – struggled to meet
demands.
The alert,
which lasted about two hours, allowed operators to obtain emergency
power, ask certain customers to curtail usage and warn of possible
blackouts.
Officials
feared that chilly weekend weather would boost demand for energy,
but the National Weather Service said Friday it was unlikely that
a previously predicted cold front would arrive. Forecasters now
put weekend temperatures around normal.
"As far
as challenging the power grid, it doesn't appear there will be
a rare California arctic outbreak at this point," said forecaster
John Juskie.
Normal temperatures
could bring some relief to the state, but power supplies remain
dangerously low, said a spokesman with the California Independent
System Operator. The ISO controls the power grid for much of the
western United States.
"That
would be welcome news to everyone here, but we are preparing as
if the cold snap is coming. We can't afford to let our guard down,
especially with the crunches we've been having," said the
ISO's Pat Dorinson.
If enough
power can't be found when demand peaks, the ISO could order rotating
blackouts in which blocks of up to 100,000 customers would be
without power for up to an hour. In the winter months, that's
especially dangerous, because the peak is about 6 p.m., said Jim
Detmers, managing director of operations at ISO.
"It's
dark, it's foggy. The last thing I want to have happen is to have
a school bus go through an intersection where the lights have
just gone dark," he said. "What do I tell those parents?
That we didn't do enough here to keep the lights on?"
Though power
demands usually lessen over the weekend when commercial customers
don't need it, Detmers said a large transmission line and a power
plant will both be down for repairs this weekend, making those
days critical.
The power
grid managers avoided blackouts Thursday by tapping electricity
intended for the pumps that push water from Northern California
to the central and southern regions of the state.
By temporarily halting the two-story pumps that suck water from
the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco,
authorities obtained an additional 500 megawatts.
Demand on
the grid reached 31,600 megawatts Thursday evening, nearly the
maximum available. Reserves dipped below 1,000 megawatts, prompting
the alert. One megawatt powers 1,000 homes.
"If we're
short by 500 megawatts, that's 500,000 people affected (by blackouts).
If we're short 1,000 megawatts, that's a million people,"
said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.
Hundreds of
companies cut their electricity usage, and others awaited notification
to do likewise. Computer chip maker Intel said it was prepared
to turn off 50 percent of the lights at its 6,500-employee Folsom
campus if necessary.
"If that's
not enough, we'll take the lights down 100 percent and work in
the dark," said Bill Mueller, Intel's director of communications.
Gov. Gray
Davis said the problems stemmed in part from flaws in California's
newly deregulated electricity system, including huge increases
in the cost of wholesale power.
"We're
simply not ready for deregulation in California," the governor
said.
"California
is riding point on this deregulation experiment," Davis added.
"The problem is, I can't control the process. There are too
many players."
Under a 1996
law, California's investor-owned monopoly utilities were required
to sell off their power-generating assets, such as dams and power
plants, and purchase electricity on the open market.
The goal was
to lower prices to consumers through a competitive market, but
skyrocketing energy costs sent market prices sharply higher.
San Diego
Gas and Electric Co., with 1.2 million customers in San Diego
and southern Orange County, was the first to complete its transition.
It passed on the costs of wholesale electricity to its customers,
resulting in a doubling and tripling of customers' bills. The
outcry prompted state and federal investigations.
Pacific Gas
and Electric Co., with 4.5 million customers in Northern and Central
California, and Southern California Edison Co., with 4.2 million,
have yet to fully deregulate. They say they have paid more than
$5 billion in excess wholesale charges since the summer and both
sought permission from state regulators and federal courts to
pass those charges to customers.
Deregulation's
political popularity during the last decade made power plant builders
wary of building in the state. As a result, electricity supplies
remained stagnant at a time when the state's population exploded
and high-tech companies boomed.
Eight new
plants have been licensed since 1998, but the soonest any will
begin operation is next summer. State officials believe costs
will ease as that new energy becomes available.
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