California ISO Declares a Statewide Stage Two Electrical Emergency; Conservation Needed as Demand Surges and Supply Tightens.Business/News Editors FOLSOM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) At 7:50 a.m. today, Monday, April 9, 2001, the California Independent System Operator (California 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. ) called a Stage Two Emergency as operating reserves In power systems, the operating reserve is the generating capacity available to the system operator within a short interval of time to meet demand in case a generator is lost or there is another disruption to the supply. dipped below five percent. This emergency status is partly attributable to higher electrical loads If an electric circuit has a well-defined output terminal, the circuit connected to this terminal (or its input impedance) is the load. (The term 'load' may also refer to the power consumed by a circuit; that topic is not discussed here. due to cold temperatures and meager mea·ger also mea·gre adj. 1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty. 2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain. 3. winds, which has reduced available wind power generation from 1,000 megawatts to an estimated 250 megawatts. Additional conditions that are producing tight operating reserves include: -- A total of 12,421 megawatts worth of generation unavailable today with power plants off-line because of preventative repairs and plant malfunctions -- An additional 3,000 megawatts of generation from the state's qualifying facilities (QFs) remain unavailable due to continuing financial concerns -- Path 15 transmission congestion because of especially high demand and low supply in Northern California -- Low imported power due to higher loads in the Northwest -- a region also suffering from a cold snap With operating reserves hovering hov·er intr.v. hov·ered, hov·er·ing, hov·ers 1. To remain floating, suspended, or fluttering in the air: gulls hovering over the waves. 2. at critical levels, the California ISO requests that customers voluntarily reduce their use of electricity to prevent more severe curtailment Curtailment The act of contracting or reducing operations of a company in the hope of bringing it financial or operational stability. This management technique is often used when a company has grown too fast and is unable to effectively manage its operations. measures. Peak demand on the transmission system is expected to reach 28,462 megawatts around 6:00 p.m. today. Today's Stage Two declaration, expected to be in effect until midnight, enables the California ISO to access emergency resources to help maintain operating reserves. If an operating reserve shortfall of less than one-and-a-half percent is unavoidable, Stage Three is initiated. Involuntary curtailments of service to customers including "rotating blackouts" are possible during this emergency declaration. The California ISO's Electrical Emergency Plan (EEP EEP Export Enhancement Program EEP Ecosystem Enhancement Program EEP Early Entrance Program (University of Washington) EEP Equal Error Protection EEP Einstein Equivalence Principle EEP Emergency Evacuation Plan ) is part of the state's enhanced reliability standards enacted by landmark legislation Assembly Bill 1890 that led to the restructuring of California's electricity industry. The California ISO is charged with managing the flow of electricity along the long-distance, high-voltage power lines that make up the bulk of California's transmission system. The not-for-profit public-benefit corporation assumed the responsibility in March, 1998, when California opened its energy markets to competition and the state's investor-owned utilities turned their private transmission power lines over to the California ISO to manage. The mission of the California ISO is to safeguard the reliable delivery of electricity, facilitate markets and ensure equal access to a 25,526 circuit mile "electron highway." Continuously updated information about the California ISO control area's electricity supply and the current demand on the power grid is available on the web at www.caiso.com. Other helpful contacts: Pacific Gas and Electric 415/973-5930 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. 626/302-2255 San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. Gas and Electric 877/866-2066 |
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