Millions of Californians may lose power in blackouts, ISO warns
OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Pacific Gas and Electric is warning its customers in the Bay Area and elsewhere that blackouts may hit the region again on Monday afternoon and evening.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the state's power grid, declared a statewide emergencyj Monday evening and said it "anticipates rotating outages" between 5 and 6 p.m. The outages could affect millions of people, the head of the ISO warned at a board meeting Monday.
"Unfortunately, it is near certain that we'll be forced to ask the utilities to cut off power to millions today to balance supply and demand; today and tomorrow and perhaps beyond," said grid CAISO CEO Steve Berberich.
The ISO declared it a stage 2 emergency, meaning that it will intervene in the market and possibly order plants online after having "taken all mitigating actions and is no longer able to provide its expected energy requirement." For comparison, the power emergency on August 14 was a stage 3 in which the ISO initiated rotating outages because it could not meet demand.
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The silver lining was that 'expected demand has been decreasing, due to slightly lower temperatures and "consumer conservation," the ISO said.
At the board meeting meeting, grid operators blamed high temperatures compounded by high demand for air conditioning. But, the grid operators admitted that they have fewer resources available to them than a decade ago; a shortage made worse by the loss of power from solar farms that essentially die in the dark.
Customers throughout the Bay Area had begun receiving text messages from Monday afternoon that they could lose electricity due to increased demand amid the heatwave.
There were blackouts over the weekend that affected 220,000 PG&E customers.
PG&E and other utilities in the state have been asked to participate in the rotating outages.
At a board meeting on Monday, grid operators blamed high temperatures compounded by high demand for air conditioning. But, the grid operators admitted that they have fewer resources available to them than a decade ago; a shortage made worse by the loss of power from solar farms that essentially die in the dark.
"Unfortunately, it is near certain that we'll be forced to ask the utilities to cut off power to millions today to balance supply and demand; today and tomorrow and perhaps beyond," said grid CAISO CEO Steve Berberich.
Even as California was promised a more robust and better grid after the energy crisis of 20 years ago, customers are more at risk for selectively losing power across the grid.
Mark Toney, executive director of consumer advocacy group TURN, The Utility Reform Network said, "The California legislature needs to investigate CAISO because it's their job to run the electrical grid."
TURN is not ruling out activities that plagued California during the energy crisis.
"There needs to be an investigation into market manipulation and all of the other reasons why there's a controlled, created shortage just like there was during the last deregulation crisis," said Toney.
PG&E said these blackouts are not Public Safety Power Shutoffs and are not related to any issues with the electric company's equipment.