Record California power demand expected Friday

By Bernie Woodall

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California’s power grid is expected
to post a new electricity demand record on Friday as air
conditioners across the state battle a powerful heat wave, the
California Independent System Operator said on Thursday.

The Cal ISO manages the power grid that connects major
power lines in the state.

The grid operator called on Californians to conserve
electricity by calling a “power watch” from Friday to Monday,
said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the ISO.

By Thursday evening, there had been no weather-related
outages, McCorkle said.

“New temperature data (are) indicating a warm air mass is
pushing up temperatures even more than expected,” McCorkle
said. “Definitely Friday and Monday we are looking to possibly
set new records for peak demand.”

The highest demand is expected Monday when the hottest
temperatures are forecast in the current heat wave over most of
the western United States.

Friday demand is forecast about 46,225 megawatts around 4
p.m. PDT, which would break the record of 45,431 set last July
20, the Cal ISO said. Thursday’s peak demand was 44,655
megawatts.

Monday’s peak is expected to be 46,500 megawatts, also
around 4 p.m. PDT.

“We have had some load growth since last summer and this is
going to be a strong regional heat wave that is driving demand
for electricity,” McCorkle said.

There is little chance of major blackouts even as records
are expected Friday and Monday, said McCorkle and several
utility companies.

Since the 2000-2001 energy crisis in California, increased
generation capacity and transmission lines and upgrades to
distribution systems across the state have made power delivery
more reliable, said Jeff Smith, spokesman for Pacific Gas &
Electric Co.

Although the major change is more infrastructure, the
crisis five years ago was also linked to a failed market
deregulation law and market manipulation by some traders that
triggered power blackouts.

Earlier on Thursday, the Cal ISO called on generating
plants contributing to the state’s power grid to restrict plant
maintenance from noon until 10 p.m. PDT on Thursday.

Californians were asked to cut power use by raising
thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit when they are home and to
at least 80 F — or turning air-conditioners off altogether —
when they are away.

Homeowners are being asked to avoid running big appliances
during the hottest parts of the day.

Weather forecaster Meteorlogix said that in California the
highest temperatures in most major cities will be Monday or on
the weekend.

In Fresno, Monday’s high will be 110 F, 14 F higher than
normal. Tuesday’s high will be 105 F and Wednesday’s, 103 F.

Los Angeles will be 4 degrees F above normal with a high of
78 F on Friday and it will remain in the uppers 70s to low 80s
through next Wednesday. In the San Fernando Valley near Los
Angeles, highs will be over 100 F through early next week.

Sacramento will have highs 5 F more than normal on Friday
and 12 F higher than the normal on Monday, when it will have a
high of 103 F. Tuesday’s high will be 100 F and Wednesday’s 97
F.

Those forecasted temperatures from Meteorlogix were issued
early Thursday before weather experts said the coming warm air
mass Friday through Monday will be even hotter than first
predicted.