California ISO calls Stage One emergency

California ISO calls Stage One emergency, seeks voluntary cuts

Washington (Platts)--29Mar2004


High temperatures, higher-than-expected loads and loss of resources prompted
the California Independent System Operator to call a Stage One Emergency at
13:50 pm (PST). Stage One is called when the state has less than 7% operating
reserves. The ISO will ask the entire state, and especially customers in
Southern California, to conserve energy, an ISO spokesman said. If reserves
drop below 5%, the ISO may call a Stage Two emergency and begin to curtail
interruptible load. The current forecast for peak demand is for 32,699 MW.