STAGE 3 EMERGENCY NOTICE Effective 12/07/2000 at 17:15

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STAGE 3 EMERGENCY NOTICE [200000398]

Effective 12/07/2000 at 17:15 the California Independent System Operator has implemented Stage 3 of the Electrical Emergency Plan. The Plan has been implemented for the following reason(s):

low resources

Stage 3 is expected to be in effect from HE 18 through (HE 22.

Participating transmission owners are to notify the Utility Distribution Companies within their operational areas.

Stage 3: Operating reserves are expected to fall below 1-1/2%. The UDC will implement their electrical emergency plan and/or other load dropping to effect 0 MW of involuntary firm demand reductions (i.e., in addition to ALL Interruptible Service reductions) no later than 1715 hours.

This message is from Market Operations (916-351-2494) at the California ISO.

Notice issued at: 12/07/2000 17:22

-- pho (owennos@bigfoot.com), December 07, 2000

Answers

California Independent System Operator

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Patrick Dorinson December 7, 2000 Director of Communications 1 (888) 516-NEWS

STAGE THREE ELECTRICAL EMERGENCY DECLARED

Rotating Outages Not Required at this Time

(Folsom, CA) The California Independent System Operator (California ISO) declared its first Stage Three Emergency today at 5:15 p.m., Thursday, December 7, 2000, but rotating blackouts have not been ordered at this time. This Stage Three declaration enables the California ISO to receive emergency assistance from the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) to help meet the day’s peak demand, forecasted to be 33,839 megawatts at approximately 6:00 p.m. this evening. California ISO is hopeful that these additional resources will help avoid rotating blackouts throughout the state. Higher than usual consumer demand for this time of year coupled with more than 11,000 megawatts of generation off line and a decrease in imported power has jeopardized the operating reserves necessary to maintain electricity reliability. The California ISO is strongly urging consumers statewide to conserve electricity this evening. Stage One and Stage Two emergencies were called earlier today and are in effect until 10 p.m.

Stage Three of the state’s Electrical Emergency Plan (EEP) is required when operating reserves fall below one-and-a-half percent. The California ISO’s EEP is part of the state’s enhanced reliability standards created by landmark legislation Assembly Bill 1890, which restructured California’s electricity industry.

-- pho (owennos@bigfoot.com), December 07, 2000.


State goes to Stage Three power alert, but no immediate blackouts

Updated: Dec. 7, 2000 - 6:25 p.m.

California declared an unprecedented electricity alert Thursday after the state's overwhelmed power grid, crippled by idled power plants and scant supplies, struggled to meet evening demands.

But the managers of the state's power grid said they hoped to avoid the feared blackouts.

To save power, the huge state and federal pumps that move water from the north state to Southern California were temporarily shut down.

"We're hoping that with these resources we can avoid the blackouts," said Lorie O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the Independent System Operator.

The latest alert followed hours of increasing stress on California's electricity grid, which has been strapped by cold weather, power plants idled for maintenance and repairs, and dwindling imports.

The alert by the Folsom-based ISO, which manages California's grid, can entail forced blackouts to preserve the system.

But by temporarily halting the giant, two-story pumps that push water into the California Aqueduct from the delta east of San Francisco, authorities hoped to obtain at least an additional 500 megawatts, perhaps more.

The demand on the system reached 31,600 megawatts Thursday evening, nearly the maximum available. Reserves dipped to below 1,000 megawatts, prompting the alert. One megawatt is enough electricity for 1,000 homes.

"We are within less than 1,000 megawatts right now," said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.

Earlier today, authorities warned of the possibility of rolling hour- long blackouts across the state that could affect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Hundreds of companies voluntarily cut their electricity usage, while others awaited notification to do so. Computer-chip maker Intel, for one, prepared to turn off half the lights at its 6,500-employee Folsom campus and pledged to work in the dark if that wasn't enough.

The system was strained by cold weather, power plants idled for maintenance or repairs and reduced out-of-state power supplies because of demands across the Northwest.

California has experienced isolated blackouts in the past, but has never endured controlled widespread blackouts ordered by authorities to protect the state's power grid.

The Independent System Operator, manager of California's electricity grid, declared a Stage Two power emergency at 4 a.m. Thursday, urging millions of residential and business customers to conserve energy.

Conservation recommendations included lowering thermostats to 68 degrees in occupied households and to 55 if no one was home, and turning on Christmas lights only after the evening power demand peak was over.

Notice to cut power went out at 7 a.m. to hundreds of companies that are under "interruptible" power contracts. Those companies get huge rebates ordinarily in exchange for agreeing to reduce power when necessary.

The ISO has issued Stage Two alerts before, but never so early in the day. The agency said there was a possibility it could go to its highest alert, Stage Three, later in the day. That would trigger the rolling blackouts.

The alerts are the latest in a series of problems to bedevil California's deregulated electricity system, which has been rocked for six months by dramatic increases in wholesale energy costs.

Under a 1996 law, California's investor-owned monopoly utilities began a gradual transition to deregulation. The companies were required to sell off their power-generating assets, such as dams and power plants, and purchase electricity on the open market.

The goal was to lower prices to consumers through a competitive market. But skyrocketing energy costs have sent market prices sharply higher. With few power plants of their own, California utilities have been forced to pay those high rates for wholesale electricity.

Concerned about deregulation, power plant builders shunned California and no new power plants were developed for a decade, leaving supplies stagnant. Several new plants are under construction now -- eight have been licensed since 1998 -- but the soonest they will begin operation is next summer. State officials believe costs will ease as that new energy becomes available.

The last major blackout in California occurred June 14 during a heat wave in the San Francisco area. It lasted several hours and was due to local voltage and equipment problems.

In 1996, there was an uncontrolled cascading blackout throughout the Northwest, including many areas of California, that lasted up to nine hours.

Earlier in the week, the state Public Utilities Commission ordered engineers and inspectors to examine idled power plants. The order came after an unusually large number of power plants, producing about 7,000 megawatts, reported they were down for maintenance or other reasons. The commission told its inspectors to verify the shutdowns were legitimate.

Publicly, there was no indication officials were concerned about deliberate shutdowns to drive up costs. Privately, though, officials at two state agencies said they were worried the number of idled power plants could result in cost spikes ultimately benefitting those plants.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/beelive/show_story.cgi?electricity

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 07, 2000.


Isn't it Wonderful to believe and trust, that such a thing has not, and will not, happen in you neighborhood, through God's will.

-- Read this thing (for@toolong.com), December 07, 2000.

Why do I get the impression that this is just a non-event as far as the people of California are concerned? CBS news did a spot on the power crunch in California showing all the xmas lights and asked one person their opinion. The answer was it was all phoney. Beside the action in Florida still takes all the airtime. Almost sounds like y2k reporting all over again.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 07, 2000.

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