December 13, 2000 California Secures Emergency Power By REUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) - California's struggling power sector secured enough emergency electricity imports Wednesday to avert rolling blackouts across the state.

Officials at the California Independent System Operator (ISO), which manages most of the state power system, told a news conference California had received about 5,000 megawatts (MW) of power from out of state shortly after the ISO declared it might have to plunge entire neighborhoods into darkness to avoid a widespread collapse of the system.

The power was secured in part through an emergency order from U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to divert power to California from federal hydroelectric dams in neighboring states.

The strain was further eased at about 2 p.m. when service was cut to several big industrial customers, shedding about 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity to avoid overloading the grid during the peak evening demand hours, which typically last from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The overall load on the California grid was forecast to peak Wednesday evening at about 33,600 MW. One megawatt is enough to power about 1,000 homes.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/13WIRE-ENERGY.html?printpage=yes

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 13, 2000