San Diego region blackout and Cal ISO Outlook chart
08 September 2011
On Thursday afternoon, the San Diego, California region lost both major grid connections, resulting in loss of power for some 1.4 million customers of San Diego Gas and Electric, plus some consumers in Arizona and Mexico. The “Today’s Outlook” Chart for 8 Sep from California ISO—which manages the grid for the entire state—shows the event and impact:
|
|
| Blue line is actual demand, orange line is available resources, dotted blue line is the demand forecast. Click to enlarge. |
Shows that co-generation could be valuable for many buildings including homes. Co-generation can prevent the production of much CO2 far faster and cheaper than solar or wind power. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 09 September 2011 at 03:03 AM
This is a typical inherent weakness of many current power networks. Loop type DC networks could avoid this type of failures. The solution has been around for decades but it is not applied because it may cost a few more $$$$. We are always at the mercy of the all mighty $$$. We always want the cheapest regardless of the quality? That's why Walmart is doing so well.
Posted by: HarveyD | 09 September 2011 at 06:53 AM
Excuses, Excuses.
The Truth is that the eco-nitwits in charge in California have driven the state's own power generation capacity to minus 30% of demand, by constantly preventing thr construction of new power plants of whatever design.
California is now totally dependent on importing Power from third-world Mexico, and Arizona, Nevado, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Colorado, for its own electric power.
Whenever there is a physical disruption from driving power those long distances the result is blackouts.
This pecarious situation will get worse too. Much, much worse. Virtually every adjoining State was allowed to sell surplus capacity to California from it outmoded and dirtiest standby plants, at outrageous prices by their own Public utility Commisions, to lower local prices.
But none have much surplus capacity any more. The local PUCs can demand at any day that the local State reserves have grown too small; and require the power sales to California to halt.
Or the super eco-nitwits in the EPA, could succeed in their demand to turn off the antiquated coal plants, as they have already ruled.
Instantly California, with its missing 30% of generation capacity, will go dark daily right up to the election.
Nothing oculd be more fitting for the Obamunists than that California would be unable to vote for more of their "de-industrialize America is a good thing", baloney!
Welcome to that ardently desired situation by the eco-nitwits, when California is always in brownout and/or rotating blackouts.
This is just another sample of what is in store.
Until the eco-nitwits are thrown out of office and their legislative twits consigned to electoral oblivion Californians will suffer. Building replacements will take half a decade too, when Californians wise up and break the power and influence of those seeking to "de-industrialize America" and return us to their never never fantasy of the Stone Age.
Posted by: D | 09 September 2011 at 08:38 AM
D, you are full of it.
The utilities are very up front that losing the AZ-CA 500 kV line should not have resulted in a wide-spread outage.
Redundancies in place should have localized the outage to a much smaller area. They didn't. Now they have the task of figuring out why so this doesn't happen in the future.
BTW - the chart above clearly shows that available reserves clearly exceed demand but a substantial amount, even on hot days like yesterday. Available generation is not the problem here.
This was a grid regulation issue, not a generation issue.
Posted by: Dave R | 09 September 2011 at 11:53 AM
There should be big load banks installed at nuclear power plants to divert all the power that they need to in order to keep operating into the air or water. The power would then be available to local areas and to restart the other power plants on the network.
The Japanese reactors might have been saved if some turbines were kept operating and supplying power for pumps. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 12 September 2011 at 12:08 AM