Re: California regulators ordered rolling blackouts

[hardie () equinix com]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/01/16/MN184364.DTL

describes one of the more interesting side notes in all of this, how PG & E's
corporate restructuring allows them to retain profits.  Among the many comical
notes is that about half of the debt PG & E owes is to itself.  

                        regards,
                                Ted Hardie


> Even third world countries aren't as idiotic as California. There when
> electricity goes off, it usually is because there is none to be had. In our
> situation, it is manipulation and poor planning to the extreme.
>
> My power was out for at least one hour, it is back now.
>
> Bora
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rusty H. Hodge" <rusty () hodge com>
> To: <nanog () merit edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 1:37 PM
> Subject: California regulators ordered rolling blackouts
>
>
> > It has begun. Welcome to the 3rd world.
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/01/17/stat
> e1503EST0161.DTL
> > Blackouts hit California as utility financial woes deepen
> >
> > Associated Press, SF Gate Wednesday, January 17, 2001
> > Breaking News Sections
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > California regulators ordered rolling blackouts Wednesday for the
> > first time in the state's months-long electricity crisis, blaming
> > utility credit problems and a tight national power supply for the
> > scattered outages.
> >
> > The rotating blackouts, expected to affect about 500,000 customers
> > for an hour to 90 minutes, were restricted to Pacific Gas and
> > Electric Co. territory in northern and part of central California,
> > said Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the Independent System
> > operator, keeper of the state's power grid.
> >
> > A PG&E spokesman said that about 250,000 people were already without
> > power from the blackouts that began at 11:41 a.m. There are reports
> > of outages in San Francisco's Lower Haight, Oakland's Rockridge area,
> > the Oakland Hills, Orinda, the Peninsula from South San Francisco to
> > San Mateo, parts of Napa and Sonoma County, downtown San Jose,
> > Cupertino's De Anza College, San Ramon, Santa Cruz, Benicia and other
> > areas, according to radio and TV reports.
> >
> > There was a report of two students being trapped in an elevator at
> > Hastings School of Law in San Francisco. Some ATMs were reported out
> > of service in downtown San Francisco.
> >
> > Power was cut to the Cow Palace in Daly City, which is holding a boat
> > show, according to an administrative worker at the exhibition hall.
> > The main building remains well-lit from emergency lighting and
> > skylights, she said.
> >
> > KICU-TV, channel 36, was knocked off the air.
> >
> > The blackouts would first affect customers in scattered areas known
> > as blocks 3 and 4. For security reasons, the precise locations are
> > not released. Consumers can find their block numbers at the bottom of
> > their power bills.
> >
> > PG&E and state officials urged conservation and said it was not known
> > yet if blackouts would be ordered for blocks 5, 6 and 7. Blocks 1 and
> > 2 had power outages last June.
> >
> > BART, fire departments, police stations and hospitals are not
> > affected. Motorists who come to non-functioning traffic signals,
> > including El Camino Real in the San Bruno/San Mateo area and Lawrence
> > Expressway in San Jose, should treat them as four-way stops.
> >
> > Utilities try to avoid cutting power to blocks with essential
> > services such as hospitals.
> >
> > Terry Winter, president of Cal-ISO, said that a large power plant on
> > California's Central Coast went down at about 11 a.m., necessitating
> > the outages.
> >
> > Worry that the state's two largest utilities were on the verge of
> > bankruptcy led some suppliers to withhold power from California,
> > despite an emergency federal order requiring them to sell excess
> > electricity to the state, said Jim Detmers, the ISO's managing
> > director of operations.
> >
> > But Winter said later that he did not believe generators were
> > withholding power. Instead, he said, the main problem is broken power
> > generating facilities, many of them older plants that have been run
> > heavily since June.
> >
> > Compounding the problem is a general scarcity of electricity
> > nationally, and a lack of snow and rain in the
> > hydroelectric-dependent Pacific Northwest, Detmers said.
> >
> > ``If you are out in the community and get into an intersection that
> > is in the blackout, use caution,'' he said.
> >
> > The day began with the third Stage 3 power alert within a week,
> > meaning reserves were close to just 1.5 percent. The warning marked
> > at least the third time California neared blackouts since its power
> > woes began last summer.
> >
> > The ISO fended off outages before by temporarily turning off huge
> > state pumps that move water from Northern California to the south,
> > sucking enough power for 600,000 homes, but that wasn't enough
> > Thursday.
> >
> > Suppliers were ``reluctant to provide power to California because of
> > the financial situation of the utilities,'' Detmers said.
> >
> > He said the ISO wasn't probing whether suppliers were flat-out
> > ignoring Energy Secretary Bill Richardson's emergency order insisting
> > that any spare power go to California, however.
> >
> > ``We're just trying to get the power delivered,'' he said.
> >
> > Adding to the problems, several power plants that were expected to
> > return to full operation after repairs did not, Detmers said.
> >
> > On Tuesday, Southern California Edison declared itself unable to pay
> > hundreds of millions in wholesale electricity bills, and it and PG&E,
> > the state's largest utilities, took another hit on Wall Street.
> >
> > SoCal Edison, which serves 11 million people, said it cannot pay $596
> > million in bills for wholesale energy and debt service, including
> > $215 million to the California Power Exchange.
> >
> > The Power Exchange was considering whether to make the utility buy
> > its power elsewhere and an electricity supplier threatened to force
> > SoCal Edison into bankruptcy if it failed to pay its bills.
> >
> > The default prompted Standard & Poor's and Moody's to downgrade the
> > credit ratings of SoCal Edison and PG&E to junk-bond status.
> >
> > The credit agency said SoCal Edison's delinquency also tainted PG&E.
> > With just $500 million in cash left as of Jan. 10, PG&E faces due
> > dates on bills totaling $1 billion during the first two weeks of
> > February.
> >
> > Between them, PG&E and SoCal Edison have lost at least $10 billion in
> > wholesale energy costs. A rate freeze imposed as the state phases in
> > deregulation has blocked them from passing on higher wholesale costs
> > to their customers.
> >
> > Wholesale power prices have risen dramatically since June, in part of
> > because of a hot summer and a cold winter. In 1999, they averaged
> > perhaps 3.5 cents a kilowatt. Now, they are running about 30 cents,
> > and sometimes far higher.
> >
> > Demand has remained high, supplies are strapped because no new power
> > plants have been built in the state in recent years and imports are
> > tight because other states are fighting over the power.
> >
> > In addition, spiraling prices for natural gas are forcing power
> > plants to raise their prices. Most power plants are fired by natural
> > gas.
> >
> > On Tuesday, unusually high demand for natural gas, due in part to
> > cold weather, led San Diego Gas and Electric to cut supplies to two
> > power plants, contributing to the state's Stage 3 alert.
> >
> > The utility said there was plenty of natural gas, but not enough
> > space in the pipeline to meet its customers' needs. To maintain the
> > supply for its home and small-business users, the utility cut the
> > flow to the two power plants and six large industrial customers.
> >
> > The state avoided rolling blackouts after huge state pumps that move
> > water from Northern California to the south were turned off
> > temporarily, conserving enough electricity to power 600,000 homes,
> > said Kellan Fluckiger, the ISO's chief operating officer.
> >
> > Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, spent Tuesday on
> > the phone with Central Valley lawmakers and the governor's office
> > trying to ensure that orange growers wouldn't face outages as they
> > tried to protect crops from a cold snap.
> >
> > ``We're terribly exposed,'' said Nelsen, who heads a trade
> > association of 800 growers. ``The loss of power for a short time
> > could wreak untold damage on our crop.''