UPDATE:SAN FRANCISCO HIT BY BLACKOUTS - was Re: Second day of rolling blackouts starts

["Rusty H. Hodge" <rusty () hodge com>]

From the local news wire, pulled off of kpix.com....

BCN42:UPDATE:ISO PREDICTS NO MORE BLACKOUTS TODAY


BCN42           -SUFFICIENT POWER PURCHASED (UPDATE ON BCN40)

By Bay City News Service
The California Independent System Operator said to that the threat
of rolling blackouts has subsided today since enough electrical power
has been purchased to get the state through the evening power crunch.
But an ISO spokesman said it is extending the Stage Three
Electrical Emergency until 9 p.m. tomorrow. He said additional
megawatts are available under the stage three emergency that are not
available under a stage two alert, and it would be smart to have those
available in the event of a shortage.
Tomorrow's load is expected to be approximately 1,000 megawatts
less than today because Fridays are generally a lower demand day. The
spokesman said he was feeling optimistic and indicated that there may
be no rolling blackouts tomorrow.
Kellan Fluckiger said water at the hydroelectric power-producing
plants is extremely low and that is keeping the reserves low.
Overnight loads should be higher than expected because the state will
be paying back electricity to generators from which it borrowed to
keep the grid running today.




BCN44:UPDATE:SAN FRANCISCO HIT BY BLACKOUTS


BCN44          -ZOO ANIMALS AFFECTED (UPDATE ON BCN36)

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)
San Francisco police say power outages, though brief, have caused a
stir at intersections, businesses and schools throughout the city
today and created problems for some animals at the zoo.
Police say one person was injured and taken to Seton Medical Center
after a traffic accident occurred where directional lights were out.
One car was traveling west on San Jose Avenue at about 10:30 a.m. when
it hit another vehicle going north on Sickles Avenue in the Oceanview
area.
At about the same time, power was out at George Washington High
School in the Richmond District for about an hour. Students reportedly
had to take tests by natural light.
Police said several additional schools were affected including
Visitacion Valley Middle School and Sunnyside Elementary School.
At the zoo, a spokeswoman said gorillas were forced to stay inside
for longer than usual today since their electronically powered doors
were stuck shut and reptiles accustomed to heat lamps had to do the
best they could without the warmth for a while.
Some of the zoo's rare fish, cichlidas from Madagascar, also had to
be moved because of problems with their heated tanks, as well.
City-owned facilities such as parking lots, youth centers and
tennis courts were hit with blackouts in areas including the
Ingleside, Western Addition, South of Market and North Beach.
The city Office of Emergency Services got three reports of
elevators getting stuck. Power went out at the Palace of the Legion of
Honor.
Street lights were out at about 15 intersections on several
roadways, including five along Geary Boulevard and others at
Brotherhood Way and Alemany Boulevard, Clement Street and Park
Presidio, as well as Bay and Kearny streets and Geneva and San Jose
avenues.
Officials from the Department of Parking and Traffic were
reportedly  directing traffic at the busier intersections.

CarlaBova433p1/18/01

CONTACT: SFPD (415) 553-1651 SF Fire (415) 558-3268
OES (916) 262-1843
Nancy Chan, SF Zoo (415) 753-7174