Energy Officials Cautious About Summer Power Supply
Jun 28 - San Diego Business Journal
Early in May, the region barely squeaked past a power shortage.
It was one of three close calls for the region already this spring.
Summer is around the comer. ISO officials came to San Diego on May 24 to
deliver the summer forecast for electricity.
"This coming summer is not, at this time, projected to deliver
blackouts," said Jim Detmers, ISO vice president of grid operations.
However, a number of conditions will stress the system, Detmers said.
The economy is starting to bounce back, which increases the demand for
electricity. Some power plants have shut down for maintenance. Transmission
capacity also is tapped out, he said.
On May 3, several hundred megawatts of power sat idle at the state's border,
but the region couldn't bring it in because of congested transmission lines,
Detmers said. One megawatt can power about 1,000 California homes.
As long as every component works smoothly this summer, the region should be
fine, Detmers said. But if a heat wave hits or a fire endangers a transmission
line, problems could occur.
He preached a message of conservation, saying consumers should continue their
energysaving efforts to help prevent a repeat of the rolling blackouts of 2001.
Qualcomm Inc. is doing its share. The company has spent several million
dollars in the last year on energy efficiency improvements.
"The main reason is that it makes sense from a community and world
citizenship perspective, and it makes sense because it's cost effective,"
said Alan Ball, Qualcomm's senior manager for energy.
The company, which employs 6,000 at 30 buildings in San Diego, maintains an
internal Web site to inforrn employees of steps to take when the ISO issues
energy alerts.
"We have a very well-thought-out process that we go through," Ball
said. "The idea of the process is to drop the demand that we have on the
system."
Energy reliability has been a concern since the power crisis of 2000-01, he
said. However, the cost of electricity is more worrisome.
Long-term energy contracts the state entered into during the crisis will
provide more stability to prices, Ball said. But the contracts were costly.
And Legislation doesn't distribute the costs of electricity evenly throughout
the consumer base, he said. Businesses end up paying a much higher part of the
bill. Seventy-five percent of San Diego electricity users - mostly homeowners -
pay rates that are fixed by law, Ball said.
"Every increase that occurs is born by 25 percent outside the baseline,
and that's business," he said.
And there's a push right now by Southern California Edison and its Northern
California counterpart, Pacific Gas & Electric, to have SDG&E customers
pay a higher percentage of the longterm energy contracts, Ball said. Most of
those costs would be passed on to businesses.
Dave Geier, SDG&E vice president of electric transmission and
distribution, predicted a new all-time peak in San Diego this summer. The past
peak was 3,960 megawatts. Geier expects the region may hit the 4,300-megawatt
mark, so conservation is key, he said.
He compared peak electricity days to driving on local interstates during rush
hour. "One wreck and there's gridlock."
Copyright San Diego Business Journal May 31, 2004