Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Q&A: California's New Electricity-Blackout Challenge
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
August 20, 2020

Share

BERKELEY — As if the pandemic and economic recession weren’t bad enough, millions of Californians now face recurring threats of abrupt blackouts during a heat wave in the nation’s most populous state.

California’s Independent System Operator, a nonprofit agency that manages the state’s power supply, ordered utilities to impose temporary blackouts for the first time in 19 years last Friday and did so again Saturday, pulling the plug on hundreds of thousands of customers for one to two hours. The specter of so-called “rolling outages” have loomed as a possibility every day since, and were narrowly averted Monday evening after “stunning” conservation efforts, according to ISO president Steve Berberich.

Conservation helped avoid threatened outages again Tuesday and may be needed again Wednesday to keep the power running. Temperatures are finally supposed to ease Thursday, but more outages could still loom if things heat up as much as some forecasts suggest.

The blackouts seemed to catch government officials off guard, despite an ISO warning in January that the state could run low on power over the summer if several western states were to experience extreme heat at the same time — which indeed happened several days ago.

“This has been a rude awakening for California,” said Najmedin Meshkati, a University of Southern California civil and environmental engineering professor who has studied the state’s power supply.

The outages prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, to order an investigation into how the state’s energy supply failed to keep up with demand. President Donald Trump also weighed in with a Tuesday tweet blaming the state’s Democrats for the mess.

California’s Latest Challenge

Here’s a look at California’s latest challenge.

Q: California had rolling blackouts two decades ago because of power shortages. Why hasn’t it learned from past mistakes?

Circumstances were very different in 2000-2001. Back then, a recent deregulation of the state power market was going horribly awry as energy traders manipulated energy supplies to gouge utilities. Blackout fallout eventually led voters to oust then-Gov. Gray Davis in a recall election.

These days, California is trying to adapt to environmental mandates that have shut down natural-gas power plants in favor of solar and wind energy. In addition, the San Onofre nuclear power plant in southern California shut down in 2013 for safety reasons. Nearby western states have also been phasing out coal-burning plants, reducing other energy supplies available for California to import.

Renewable energy reduces pollution, but it can run short if winds die down or demand surges after sundown. As much as 25% of California’s power supply comes from solar sources. Both came to pass last Friday and Saturday as temperatures stayed high into the evening, pushing up air-conditioning demand for electricity.

Energy shortages used to be the most severe around 4:30 p.m. on hot summer days, but are now occurring after 7 p.m., the ISO says.

Others believe he problem has more to do with California failing to manage and properly store power generated from renewable sources. “There is a certain level of misinformation going on out there,” said Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Q: This isn’t California’s first recent heat wave. What’s different?

The state’s highest recorded demand for electricity occurred in August 2006 when usage peaked at 50,270 megawatts, according to the ISO. No blackouts were necessary. But at the time, natural-gas plants were still producing about 7,000 megawatts of electricity that is longer available, said Severin Borenstein, an ISO board member who is also a professor of business administration and public policy at the University of California. Berkeley.

A September 2017 heat wave caused demand to spike to 50,140 megawatts, the ISO said Tuesday. But power imported from other western states that weren’t as hot helped save the day.

The recent shortages would have likely been even worse but for pandemic restrictions that closed many large offices. By some estimates, the pandemic so far has reduced overall electricity demand in California and other parts of the country by 8% to 10%.

An outbuilding burns as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat area of unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heat wave continues. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Some of the More Than 2 Million People Affected by Fire-Fighting Outages

Q: Doesn’t California also face blackouts intended to prevent wildfires?

Yes, particularly in Northern California. Such blackouts are likely to be more severe than what the state has just experienced. Some of the more than 2 million people affected by fire-fighting outages last fall were left without electricity for several days, not just an hour or two.

It’s highly unlikely that the ISO would order rolling outages at the same time as a fire-prevention blackout, as demand will automatically have already been reduced, Borenstein said.

Q: How can California avoid future rolling blackouts?

Investments in electricity storage and distribution would do the trick, Kammen said. But those could be expensive, and even harder to budget for at a time when the state faces huge deficits amid the pandemic-related slowdown.

California also may have to consider extending the lifetime of its last nuclear power plant in Diablo Canyon. The plant is currently scheduled to close by the end of 2025, and keeping it open would likely face staunch resistance from environmentalists and politicians.

Conservation might be an easier and quicker option. Californians have conserved effectively in the past, most recently in a water-saving campaign during a prolonged drought. But no one knows if homeowners will agree to turn up thermostats a few degrees to prevent blackouts.

Utilities, however, can encourage such behavior. Borenstein suggests allowing utilities to charge higher rates from 4 to 9 p.m. in exchange for lower prices at other hours as part of a voluntary program.

Whatever measures the state takes may only be the first step. “Looking ahead, who knows what to expect,” Borenstein said. “All we know is the climate is changing.”

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

DON'T MISS

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

DON'T MISS

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

DON'T MISS

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

DON'T MISS

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

DON'T MISS

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Thousands of University of California Workers Go on 2-Day Strike Over Wages, Staff Shortages

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Pledged to Release His Tax Returns Every Year. The Last One Was for 2020.

UP NEXT

California Governor Will Not Make Clemency Decision for Menendez Brothers Until New DA Reviews Case

UP NEXT

Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses?

UP NEXT

California Voters Reject Measure That Would Have Raised Minimum Wage to Nation-High $18 Per Hour

UP NEXT

With Democracy Supposedly at Stake, California Voters Stayed Away in Droves

UP NEXT

Volunteers Came Back to Nonprofits in 2023, After the Pandemic Tanked Participation

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

1 hour ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

2 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

2 hours ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

2 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

3 hours ago

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

3 hours ago

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

4 hours ago

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

4 hours ago

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

4 hours ago

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

4 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general j...

16 minutes ago

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
16 minutes ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

39 minutes ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

44 minutes ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

1 hour ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

2 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

2 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

Fresno motorcycle cop enforces the 45 mph speed limit
2 hours ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

3 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend