Jul. 19--California ISO had expected state peak power usage Monday to
set an all-time record of 45,831 megawatts. Instead, demand peaked at
43,679 megawatts, well short of the record.
But the assurances of the California Independent System Operator and
Rosemead-based Southern California Edison, the state's No. 2 electrical
utility, failed to ease the worries of Industry-based businessman Jim
Randall.
Randall, president of aerospace rivet manufacturer Allfast Fastening
Systems Inc., said his plant in Industry already has lost power twice
this summer, on June 27 and July 1. The incidents cost the company more
than $100,000 per day in lost productivity and materials.
"It's been absolutely killing me," Randall said.
Allfast supplies rivets to military and commercial aircraft
manufacturers, including The Boeing Co., Airbus S.A.S. and Bombardier
Inc. Its vacuum furnaces heat metals to temperatures as high as 1,800
degrees Fahrenheit and can put considerable strain on local power
circuits.
"When the power goes off, everything drops to zero, and it ruins the
metal," Randall lamented.
Although Allfast's outages were isolated incidents, they demonstrate
what can happen when local power usage overwhelms the equipment that
delivers power from utility substations to commercial and residential
customers.
On Sunday, about 2,100 SCE customers near the Via Verde Country Club
in San Dimas and 4,600 customers in the Stevenson Ranch and Newhall
areas lost power in what the utility said may have been heat- related
outages. The outages were not caused by lack of power capacity but by a
pre-emptive shutdown intended to keep equipment from failing, an SCE
official said.
Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said extreme heat and humidity can
cause the utility's equipment to overheat. Such issues are not unusual,
but they tend to occur during late summer, which is traditionally much
warmer than mid-July.
"Yes, we have had transformers that have been pushed," Conroy said.
"Do they fail because of high demand? They can, yes.'
Conroy said SCE is taking steps to alleviate equipment stress caused
by heightened demand. The company is also advising customers to temper
their power use between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily, when total power
consumption usually reaches its peak.
He stressed the utility has enough power to meet expected demand this
summer, however.
"There are a number of steps we're looking at. Will they result in
less outages? The answer is yes, we hope so," he said.