WECC Daily (Electricity) Status Report (Chill Beer before blackouts alert!)

Other Comments: The CAISO is declaring Restricted Maintenance Operations for the period 0700- 2200 today due to high loads and temperatures across the ISO control area.

Yesterday/Weekend/Holiday Notable Events: At 1642 PST yesterday the CAISO requested SCE to shed 300 MW of interruptible load and 175 MW of pumping load due to the South of Lugo local area loading problem. Due to fires burning in the Southern California area, several 230-kV and 500-kV lines relayed during the 1453-1851 PST time frame which created the limitation overload. The CAISO declared a transmission emergency from 1959 through 2359 yesterday due to the fires burning and the transmission lines that had relayed. All 230- kV and 500-kV lines were restored by 2221 and the load was restored as capacity was available.
At 0405 PST yesterday APS reported the loss of a 230/69-kV transformer bank in the Deer Valley 230-kV station near Westwing due to a bushing failure and fire on one of three transformers in the bank. This interrupted approximately 200 MW of load and 70,000 customers. By 1012 PST the transformer bank had been returned to service and all customers had their power restored.

Looks like both California and Arizonia danced on the edge of some very serious outage problems yesterday.

Today's temperatures should be much higher and hence loads higher. With luck there will not be any surprises in equipment lost due to fires and loads will be served.

California really needs to build more generation and more transmission. The also need to spend money and get environmental permission to go into transmission rights of way to remove large quantities of burnable materials.

The Cal ISO also has a restricted maintenance market notice in effect today so that means they are again going to dance on the edge of power outages. Click here for Cal ISO System Status Warning/Condition

Remember, if you like cold beer, make sure you chill it early in the day incase you have a blackout in the early afternoon.

California really needs to build more generation and more transmission.

That's a function of a socialist, European style managed economy. Compare that with a free market economy.

"The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was busy in 2003 as it continued to maintain reliability and pursue increased capability in its bulk electric system. During the year, ERCOT formalized a Regional Transmission Planning Group and added 270 miles of new 345 kV transmission lines to the grid. This brings the total transmission additions in ERCOT since the transmission acquisition program began in 1999 to over 850 miles of new lines, along with numerous substation and voltage control device additions and upgrades. An additional 332 miles of transmission projects were approved by the ERCOT Board of Directors during the year and are currently being implemented. More than 4,300 MW of new generation was added to the ERCOT grid in 2003, including nearly 1,000 MW of new wind generation."
http://www.nerc.com/regional/ercot.html

I see that they are predicting even higher demand tomorrow.

When I use to do short term load projections and power scheduling, there was a concept of "load saturation." Basically, if you have say three days of very very hot weather, for the first day or two many people will be willing to cut back on air conditioning use so as to save money and be "good citizens." After about the third day of stiffling heat, people tend to say , "I don't car just what the utility says, just turn up the AC so I can finally get cooled down!" That is the point where the loads usually go through the roof.

That is also the time when power equipment which usually has its design limits based on its ability to transfer heat to the atmosphere, is the most vulnerable and likely to fail.

I think that the Wed, Thur, & Friday will be very interesting days to watch, from a power standpoint.

Remember August will likely be worse. Also starting in September and running through early 2005, the Pacific DC Intertie is scheduled to be totally out of service, which will mean California will be really hanging out.

In colonial times folks use to tell the troops to keep their powder dry. Today, I will tell you to keep your beer well chilled.

Oh, here it is: http://www.cleanenergynow.org/features/rainbowvalley.html

Greenpeace Victory - One Step Closer to Stopping the Development of the Dirty Energy Export Zone!

Thanks for all your help writing letters and faxes to the California Public Utilities Commission demanding that the Commission deny San Diego Gas and Electric's application for the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect - they worked! Greenpeace activists sent over 790 letters to the California Energy Commissioners and they heard the message. On December 19 the commissioners denied SDG&E's application to build the Valley Rainbow Interconnect.

The Valley-Rainbow Interconnect was the electricity transmission line that would have opened the floodgates for power plants generating dirty electricity south of the California/Mexico border. Greenpeace was heavily involved in the written briefs and oral hearings against the transmission line, and along with the local community and Native American groups, was able to convince the Public Utilities Commission that Sempra was only acting in their own best interest and did not have a need for the line.

The development of the border region for energy production is still happening at a frightening pace, but stopping this transmission line removes a huge incentive for building power plants south of the border.

Greenpeace congratulates the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for denying the SDG&E application for the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect. This transmission line would have cut through neighborhoods and Native American lands so that SDG&E could increase its profit margin by selling dirty energy from power plants across the California/Mexico border. The Valley-Rainbow Interconnect would have been the connection between dirty plants south of the border and the lucrative energy markets of Los Angeles and Northern California. Many generators, including Sempra Energy, are building power plants in Mexico where they are not required to meet California's air quality standards. Greenpeace does not want the border region to be developed as a Dirty Energy Export Zone, and the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect was a critical link for that development.

SDG&E maintained that the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect was necessary for electricity reliability in the San Diego area. As shown by the CPUC decision this is not true. Instead of building transmission lines SDG&E should be promoting the energy efficiency and conservation programs that were so successful during the California energy crisis to reduce demand. Furthermore, there are many renewable energy resources in the region like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal power that SDG&E can bring online to meet growing energy demands. SDG&E has recently contracted for renewable energy to meet the recently passed renewables portfolio standard, and that should be applauded. Now that the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect will not go forward, SDG&E can focus on bringing more clean energy into it's portfolio to reduce demand for natural gas, reduce the likelihood of another energy crisis and reduce global warming emissions from the region.

Thank you, althought I feel sick after reading the Green Peace message.

SDG&E maintained that the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect was necessary for electricity reliability in the San Diego area. As shown by the CPUC decision this is not true. (Editorial Note--Greenpeace activists sent over 790 letters to the California Energy Commissioners and they heard the message.) Instead of building transmission lines SDG&E should be promoting the energy efficiency and conservation programs that were so successful during the California energy crisis to reduce demand. Furthermore, there are many renewable energy resources in the region like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal power that SDG&E can bring online to meet growing energy demands. SDG&E has recently contracted for renewable energy to meet the recently passed renewables portfolio standard, and that should be applauded. Now that the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect will not go forward, SDG&E can focus on bringing more clean energy into it's portfolio to reduce demand for natural gas, reduce the likelihood of another energy crisis and reduce global warming emissions from the region.

I don't like it that California & the Dessert SW leans on the PNW electric system for their reliability. The California Power System is fast approaching a "house of cards" staus, especially if stuff like the Green Peace activities continue.

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