California power grid braces for heat wave, blackout potential

[Theinquisition]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/californi...nce.html?nhp=1

Gonna be warm for us in the southwest, it was 118 on the freeway while I was driving my motorcycle to work this afternoon. I'm betting CA is wishing they wouldn't have shuttered the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Good job Barbara boxer!!

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's power grid operators warned homes and business on Monday to conserve electricity as rising demand for air conditioning stoked by a record-setting heat wave across the U.S. Southwest tested the region's generating capacity.

The so-called Flex Alert was posted until 9 p.m. Pacific time during a second day of triple-digit temperatures expected to strain Southern California's energy production, creating the potential for rolling blackouts on the first official day of summer.

The alert was the first big test of power generators' ability to meet heightened energy demands in the greater Los Angeles area without natural gas supplies normally furnished by the now-crippled Aliso Canyon gas storage field, effectively idled since a major well rupture there last fall.

The blast-furnace-like heat prompted the city of Los Angeles to keep its network of public "cooling centers" - libraries, recreation centers and senior centers - open for extended hours as a haven for people whose homes lack air conditioning.

Area home improvement and hardware merchants were doing a brisk business in fans and AC window units.

Brett Lopes, 31, a freelance lighting technician, stopped in a Home Depot outlet near downtown to buy supplies for a homemade air conditioner he called a "swamp cooler" to use while he waited for his landlord to repair his broken AC unit.

"It's brutal," he said of the heat, explaining that he looked up directions on YouTube for assembling the makeshift cooling device. "It doesn't work as well as AC, but it's better than sitting in 100 degrees."

Others flocked to public swimming pools.

"It was really refreshing today, but more crowded than usual," said Paul Stephens, 31, a pastor who was swimming laps at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, where the mercury climbed to 108 degrees.

BALANCING THE GRID

The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which runs the state's power grid, urged consumers on Monday to cut back on electricity usage, especially during late-afternoon hours.

Utility customers were advised to turn off unnecessary lights, set air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and wait until after 9 p.m. to run major appliances, such as clothes washers and dryers.

Much of the Desert Southwest simmered in a second straight day of record, triple-digit temperatures, as the National Weather Service extended excessive-heat warnings through Wednesday for southern portions of California, Arizona and Nevada.

Electricity demand on Monday and Tuesday was expected to top 43,700 megawatts, compared with last year's peak demand 47,358 megawatts and the all-time high of 50,270 megawatts in July 2006, according to the ISO.

All customers, including homes, hospitals, oil refineries and airports, are at risk of losing power at some point this summer because a majority of electric-generating stations in California use gas as their primary fuel.

Since the energy crisis of 2000-2001, the ISO has imposed brief, rotating outages in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2015, mostly related to unexpected transmission line or power plant failures during periods of unusually high demand.

With California's largest natural gas storage field effectively shut down indefinitely at Aliso Canyon, state energy regulators have warned that Los Angeles faces up to 14 days of gas shortages severe enough to trigger blackouts this summer.

Aliso Canyon normally supplies the region's 17 gas-fired power plants, hospitals, refineries and other key parts of California's economy, including 21 million residents.

Southern California Gas Co, the division of San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy that owns the facility, remains barred from refilling the underground storage reserve until it is deemed safe to operate again.

The gas leak at the site, the worst-ever accidental methane release in the United States, forced thousands of nearby residents from their homes for several months. The leak was finally plugged in February.

[GennGreymane]

Now Ollie with the weather!

[Vanyali]

I'm in the mountains and it's hot as fuck here. Was up to 110. This is not what I signed up for when I moved here.





MMO is also now officially better at getting local news than the news though, as I've heard none of expected blackouts and live in the LA area. Sigh.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Now Ollie with the weather!

Is gon' rain!!

Well, here where I live at least...<.<

[Reklia]

Just chillin here in England.

[Atreuce]

Now Ollie with the weather!

[Theinquisition]

Thankfully I got SolarCity; So long as it does not happen at night, I should be ok... lol...


But this story as a whole is why we need a Smart Grid in the US. With more people switching to Solar, and other renewable energy that is generated on the property, etc, having a smart grid can help situations like this.

I'm all for upgrading the grid, but who is going to pay for it?

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Now Ollie with the weather!

ITS REALLY HOT!!

[Vanyali]

I'm all for upgrading the grid, but who is going to pay for it?

We're already subsidizing the current power grid, so acting like it's a completely new thing is strange.

[Theinquisition]

I'm in the mountains and it's hot as fuck here. Was up to 110. This is not what I signed up for when I moved here.





MMO is also now officially better at getting local news than the news though, as I've heard none of expected blackouts and live in the LA area. Sigh.

Yeah, I live in the Phoenix Area and it hit 120 last week. It was even worse on the freeway.

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We're already subsidizing the current power grid, so acting like it's a completely new thing is strange.

I'm not acting like anything, its a legit question. Last I heard upgrading the power grid would run around 1 trillion. That's a lot of money.

[Donald Hellscream]

And here I was complaining about it being around 30 degrees celcius ( 86 Fahrenheit ) in Denmark the next few days.. God it must be freaking awful

[Vanyali]

Yeah, I live in the Phoenix Area and it hit 120 last week. It was even worse on the freeway.

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I'm not acting like anything, its a legit question. Last I heard upgrading the power grid would run around 1 trillion. That's a lot of money.

I couldn't open my windows without a fan until 11PM. Was awful

And it might be 1 trill up front, but it won't be all done up front; on a scheduled upgrade that spawns months and years the cost really wouldn't be that great. Especially since you could prioritize it to areas that need it most, like big cities and the surrounding burbs, which could more easily absorb the cost.

[Warpaladin]

Thank you Ollie

[DesMephisto]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/californi...nce.html?nhp=1

Gonna be warm for us in the southwest, it was 118 on the freeway while I was driving my motorcycle to work this afternoon. I'm betting CA is wishing they wouldn't have shuttered the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Good job Barbara boxer!!

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's power grid operators warned homes and business on Monday to conserve electricity as rising demand for air conditioning stoked by a record-setting heat wave across the U.S. Southwest tested the region's generating capacity.

The so-called Flex Alert was posted until 9 p.m. Pacific time during a second day of triple-digit temperatures expected to strain Southern California's energy production, creating the potential for rolling blackouts on the first official day of summer.

The alert was the first big test of power generators' ability to meet heightened energy demands in the greater Los Angeles area without natural gas supplies normally furnished by the now-crippled Aliso Canyon gas storage field, effectively idled since a major well rupture there last fall.

The blast-furnace-like heat prompted the city of Los Angeles to keep its network of public "cooling centers" - libraries, recreation centers and senior centers - open for extended hours as a haven for people whose homes lack air conditioning.

Area home improvement and hardware merchants were doing a brisk business in fans and AC window units.

Brett Lopes, 31, a freelance lighting technician, stopped in a Home Depot outlet near downtown to buy supplies for a homemade air conditioner he called a "swamp cooler" to use while he waited for his landlord to repair his broken AC unit.

"It's brutal," he said of the heat, explaining that he looked up directions on YouTube for assembling the makeshift cooling device. "It doesn't work as well as AC, but it's better than sitting in 100 degrees."

Others flocked to public swimming pools.

"It was really refreshing today, but more crowded than usual," said Paul Stephens, 31, a pastor who was swimming laps at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, where the mercury climbed to 108 degrees.

BALANCING THE GRID

The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which runs the state's power grid, urged consumers on Monday to cut back on electricity usage, especially during late-afternoon hours.

Utility customers were advised to turn off unnecessary lights, set air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and wait until after 9 p.m. to run major appliances, such as clothes washers and dryers.

Much of the Desert Southwest simmered in a second straight day of record, triple-digit temperatures, as the National Weather Service extended excessive-heat warnings through Wednesday for southern portions of California, Arizona and Nevada.

Electricity demand on Monday and Tuesday was expected to top 43,700 megawatts, compared with last year's peak demand 47,358 megawatts and the all-time high of 50,270 megawatts in July 2006, according to the ISO.

All customers, including homes, hospitals, oil refineries and airports, are at risk of losing power at some point this summer because a majority of electric-generating stations in California use gas as their primary fuel.

Since the energy crisis of 2000-2001, the ISO has imposed brief, rotating outages in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2015, mostly related to unexpected transmission line or power plant failures during periods of unusually high demand.

With California's largest natural gas storage field effectively shut down indefinitely at Aliso Canyon, state energy regulators have warned that Los Angeles faces up to 14 days of gas shortages severe enough to trigger blackouts this summer.

Aliso Canyon normally supplies the region's 17 gas-fired power plants, hospitals, refineries and other key parts of California's economy, including 21 million residents.

Southern California Gas Co, the division of San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy that owns the facility, remains barred from refilling the underground storage reserve until it is deemed safe to operate again.

The gas leak at the site, the worst-ever accidental methane release in the United States, forced thousands of nearby residents from their homes for several months. The leak was finally plugged in February.

Counter point: Plenty of sun for solar power. Oh wait, everyone fights us on that shit.

[Theinquisition]

And here I was complaining about it being around 30 degrees celcius ( 86 Fahrenheit ) in Denmark the next few days.. God it must be freaking awful

I spent 3 years in Iraq and I still think its hot as hell out here. thank god we don't have energy shortages in AZ!!

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The people that do not want blackouts? We need to fund projects that upgrade our infrastructure. Even Trump is talking about that. One of the few things I agree with the man on.

I'm not opposed to upgrading the Grid infrastructure. I'd just like to see who is going to pay for it and who is going to manage it. I wouldn't trust the gov't to complete it within budget and to standard.

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Counter point: Plenty of sun for solar power. Oh wait, everyone fights us on that shit.

I'm not necessarily against solar, but it's not as cost effective as other means of generation. I'd personally like to see more GEN 4 Nuclear power plants and the development of thorium based nuclear.

[Blueobelisk]

It's goddamn hot in NY too. I'm about to turn my central air on.

[ovm33]

I always find it hilarious when people who live in a desert bitch about the heat...

O.T. Nuclear energy, wind turbines and solar farms are the answer. My plan is to cripple the coal industry first and then come up with a way to pay the new stuff. (sarcasm)

[Theinquisition]

I always find it hilarious when people who live in a desert bitch about the heat...

O.T. Nuclear energy, wind turbines and solar farms are the answer. My plan is to cripple the coal industry first and then come up with a way to pay the new stuff. (sarcasm)

People always find something to bitch about, whats new. I love Phoenix for 80% of the year.

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[QUOTE=Connal;40995954]In California there is talk about a Citizen Funded Smart Grid... but SDG&E (the local power company) is against it... I think the local governments, and their citizens should decide that sort of stuff... And each state and local government should work that out amongst themselves and the federal government.


These are all the SolarCity panels around where I live... this is not counting other companies; I think as we build critical mass in CA/San Diego, doing something like a Locally Funded Smart Grid is possible.

QUOTE]

I've really thought about going solar on my new home, I just haven't had time to look into it fully yet. I'd want to buy the system outright and not lease it, since leasing makes a home much harder to sell.

[Theinquisition]

Why do people even live in California? Earthquakes, wildfires, blistering heat. I also don't really like the beach so I guess there's no upside for me but still.

Well, they wouldn't be having rolling blackouts if Environmental groups would back the fuck off regarding Nuclear power. They've gotten many plants shut down in CA without thought of how they were going to make up the shortfall of energy.

[alexw]

In California there is talk about a Citizen Funded Smart Grid... but SDG&E (the local power company) is against it... I think the local governments, and their citizens should decide that sort of stuff... And each state and local government should work that out amongst themselves and the federal government.


These are all the SolarCity panels around where I live... this is not counting other companies; I think as we build critical mass in CA/San Diego, doing something like a Locally Funded Smart Grid is possible.

It won't work on a local level like that. It needs government direction and oversight to create a nationwide or at least a many state smart-grid. If its localized in the way you suggest it won't be able to balance across a large region, and across many different sources to account for loss of one localized electricity source (for example Californian solar on a cloudy day).

[Independent voter]

California has a higher GDP than France. Now if they could figure out what to do with all that money...