[CTRL] California Blackouts--What's Going On?

[William Shannon]

12/12/00: California Blackouts--What's Going On? text version
Rolling power blackouts have hit California, in what may be a warning for the
rest of the country. Families have been asked to turn off their Christmas
lights, businesses have had to shut down. Soon people may find themselves
sitting in the dark at home. On some days, as much as one third of the
electricity needed during the peak hours of 4 to 7 p.m. has not been
available. Utility executives warn that the states’ electrical system is on
the verge of collapse. "People are in a heap of trouble," said S. David
Freeman, of the LA Department of Water and Power. "This shouldn’t happen this
time of year." Hours before Governor Gray Davis was set to turn on the lights
for the states’ official Christmas tree, the local utility company was still
trying to find the 1,000 megawatts of electricity it was short of that day.
Governor Gray flipped on the lights, gave a short speech, then flipped them
off again.
New York used to be the place that trend-spotters kept paid attention to,
because events happened there first, then spread to the rest of the country.
In the past few decades, however, trend-setting has moved to California. This
is why we need to ask ourselves why this is happening now, when California is
actually losing population to other states and it is not in the midst of a
heat wave. Is this a dire prediction about the future for the rest of the
country?
One reason this is happening is that an unusually large number of power
generators have been shut down for maintenance or because the don’t meet air
quality standards. Also, California used to be the most populous state on the
West Coast, but now Washington and Oregon are gaining in population and
demanding more of the power resources in that area.
To make matters worse, wholesale natural gas prices are ten times higher than
they were last year, meaning that despite the blackouts, customers are in for
a shock when they get their utility bills.
Loretta Lynch, president of the Public Utilities Commission, insists that
there is no emergency. She made this statement seated in a dark San Francisco
office, lit only by a glowing computer screen. "We have the power," she said,
but she agreed that one quarter of the state’s generators are not up and
running. "People want a magic pill, and they aren’t going to get it," she
added.
 
California voted to deregulate its electrical industry four years ago,
believing this would lower utility prices. But private utility companies have
little incentive to keep a high level of reserves, so they are vulnerable
when utility needs soar or when gas prices are inflated. Congress has backed
big business over government control during the last 8 years, and is certain
to do so in the future, under a Republican administration, so we may see this
problem spread to other states, especially since global warming will probably
bring us colder winters and hotter summers.
Sources: Reuters, The New York Times, AP, ABC News


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