CHANCES DIM FOR OUTAGE IN CALIFORNIA.Byline: Daily News California energy officials said Thursday the East Coast blackout posed no threat to the state's power grid and there was little likelihood that a similar crisis could hit Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . But they couldn't rule it out. New transmission lines and increased protection built into the western power grid lessen the chance of a major power outage, although the system is not immune, officials said. ``It can always happen here,'' said Terry Winter, chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power system. ``These most likely are mechanical failures and if you get the wrong set of mechanical failures, you're going to get a large outage.'' The state ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. reported that transformer failures do occur from time to time in every utility area, but don't necessarily mean disaster. Recent transformer failures in the Sacramento area resulted in local loss of service, for instance, while officials said. Other transformer losses resulted in no power outages at all. But sometimes, it can take far less than a bad transformer to create disaster. On a hot day on Aug. 10, 1996, tree limbs drooped onto a transmission line in Oregon, darkening dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. the homes of more than 4 million customers in nine Western states. Another blackout the month before cut power to 2 million customers in 14 states. ``As a result of that outage we have more protection systems in the grid In the Grid is a game show that airs on UK broadcaster Five at 6.30pm week nights. It first aired on Monday 30 October 2006. In the Grid is hosted by Les Dennis and is produced by Initial West, one of the Endemol UK companies. now than we had then,'' said Bill Murlin, a spokesman for Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is a U.S. self-financed federal agency which transmits and sells wholesale electricity in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana. The BPA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. , the federal agency that manages the western regional grid. ``We have repaired some transmission lines so there are larger capacities for carrying electricity around the northwest.'' The outages contrast with California in 2001 when energy shortages caused rolling blackouts up and down the state. Winter said the grid is set up to automatically shut down to protect itself from being damaged by overloaded lines, allowing the grid to return to service quickly. He added that new lines need to be built to accommodate power plants built in the last three years. All Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving 3.9 million residents in 2006. It was founded in 1902 to deliver water and electricity supplies to residents and businesses in Los Angeles. and Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. electricity systems were operating normally, utility officials reported. DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection officials said they were closely watching the East Coast developments to see what can be learned. ``Once this is over and we have an idea what occurred, we can see if any steps need to be taken here,'' said Mark Ward, assistant director of system power. Ward said the DWP has been in good shape with its power supplies, even with the demands from this past week and the higher temperatures throughout the area. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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