State prepares for energy shortage High temperatures may force officials to call stage-3 alert

By David Morrill The Desert Sun September 19th, 2000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the 14th time this year, California was placed under a stage-two alert, and both state and local officials say the first ever stage-three alert is not far behind.

Because of scorching temperatures throughout the state, the California Independent System Operator has warned that all electricity consumers must reduce their usage immediately.

Weve got to pull everybody together and to do everything we can to try and save energy during this very hot weather, Cal-ISO spokesman Patrick Dorinson said. This isnt about San Franciscans vs. Los Angeles residents vs. Palm Springs residents; this is about doing what is right for the state.

Low reserve: A stage-three alert is put into effect when the power reserve drops below 1.5 percent. If this happens, power providers would be forced to conduct a rolling blackout where whole blocks of a community would be shut down one after another.

Area temperatures are expected to reach up to 108 degrees today and possibly 112 by Wednesday, said Gregg Potter, a meteorologist with Widespread Weather Services in Palm Desert.

The forecast for Northern California is similar, with record high temperatures predicted statewide.

Its wont be much longer until we get into October and November when the temperatures drop down, Potter said. All it takes is a little shift in the normal pattern and we are out of the hot weather for good.

Increased demand: The shortage of electricity is caused by heavy use of air conditioners, an inability to import as much electricity from neighboring states and several broken generators.

This week we are not out of the woods yet, as it is possible that we could have a stage-three alert, Dorinson said. Even with all the skills that our operators have to make sure we get the energy, it could still happen and that would be disappointing to our operators and consumers.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), September 19, 2000