FEDS NOTE POWER-GRID STRAINS IN CALIFORNIA, NORTHEAST U.S.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - 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, faces some of the most severe power-grid congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. in the nation and urgently needs more transmission capacity, federal officials reported Tuesday. Southern California is dangerously close to overloading In programming, the ability to use the same name for more than one variable or procedure, requiring the compiler to differentiate them based on context. (language) overloading - (Or "Operator overloading"). its system, as is the nation's Northeast, and may need federal help to gain approval for the construction of additional transmission capacity, the Department of Energy reported. ``Although progress is being made in expanding California's energy infrastructure, Southern California's economic and strategic significance to the nation is so large that the department finds it to be a critical congestion area,'' wrote authors of the National Electric Transmission Congestion Study. ``Given local opposition to new power plants and the limited new plant construction over the past decade, it is questionable whether enough new generation will be built within the region soon enough to meet eligibility requirements.'' Officials also expressed concerns about the Bay Area, where a large population and a hefty manufacturing economy is served with little generation and heavy dependence on two substations. ``Various transmission options have been proposed, but as yet no broad suite of solutions has been proposed and approved to address these problems,'' report authors said. In the Golden State, the Energy Department focused on SP26, the transmission path that runs from Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , where peak demand reached 98 percent of capacity in 2005 during moderate weather. Despite recent transmission upgrades, the study reported, the line still is importing power below desired levels. ``Various combinations of extreme peak demand, high generation unavailability or critical transmission losses could cause the SP26 area to be short on local generation capacity,'' officials wrote. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. said the report underscores the need for federal investment. ``The state's population continues to grow, and we need new infrastructure, whether it be levees, drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. , roads or electricity. ``This report shows that California continues to need investment in the backbone of its electricity grid. We need a coordinated effort on the local, state and federal level to ensure that adequate transmission supplies are built.'' Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, said the Energy Department's findings are consistent with the agency's own analysis. Ron Litzinger, senior vice president of transmission and distribution at 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. , noted that two of the company's lines identified in the report --- the Devers-Palo Verde project between Phoenix and Palm Springs and the Tehachapi Transmission Plan Phase 1 - already are well under way. The Tehachapi line will bring wind power down from Tehachapi Pass Tehachapi Pass (el. 3,793 ft. / 1,156 m.) is a mountain pass in southern California in the United States. It is located at the northeast end of the Tehachapi Mountains where they connect to the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains. to local load centers. Licenses from the Public Utilities Commission are expected this year and construction is likely to begin next year, Litzinger said. ``Southern California Edison anticipates spending $2.5 billion on transmission investment in the next five years,'' he said. ``We plan to add transmission lines where we see they are needed to increase their import capability.'' Michael Shame, executive director of the Utility Consumers Action Network, called the Energy Department's study outdated out·dat·ed adj. Out-of-date; old-fashioned. outdated Adjective old-fashioned or obsolete Adj. 1. . ``To the extent there's congestion, it's caused largely by local power plants that Edison anticipated would be built but have not materialized,'' he said. ``The fix isn't more transmission. The fix is to develop the local resources that Edison had counted upon. They've identified a symptom but haven't properly diagnosed a problem. lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (916-446-6723 |
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