Blackouts could be returning
Power usage in two large populated areas of
town are being monitored carefully to prevent residents from experiencing
rolling blackouts.
"We have two circuits that we have a problem on. (Wednesday) we began to
have problems with our equipment due to overheating caused by the tremendous
amount of electricity use by customers on those two circuits," said Glen
Cardaronella, region manager for Southern California Edison Company. "The
circuits are close to being overloaded at peak times - from noon on, due to the
growth of the area, increase air-condition load and more customers. It is not a
supply problem, just heavy usage."
Residents living
in the two areas, from North Grand to Henderson avenues and between Westwood and
Plano streets and on Olive Avenue between Road 216 and Cottage Street, began
receiving phone calls Thursday afternoon by an independent system operator who
urged customers to conserve energy by setting lower thermostats, avoid the use
of all non-essential or major appliances and to turn off or reset timers on
swimming-pool sweeps.
"It's directly related to the heat and mainly air condition usage,"
Cardaronella said. "In the San Joaquin Valley, it's very hot and we have
seen a tremendous a/c load just over the last week."
State wide, the situation has also been monitored for three days, however a
cooler trend on the West Coast has brought relief to California.
A new record was set Tuesday by Edison customers who used 20,518 megawatts of
power, a jump of more than 400 megawatts over a record set three weeks ago in
the SCE service territory - which includes most of Tulare County, according to
Cardaronella.
Cardaronella wants to urge residents to postpone running non-essential
appliances, such as dishwashers, washers and dryers until after 8 p.m., and to
set thermostats higher than 78-degrees during peak hours to avoid any rolling
blackouts in town.
"That will really help the situation over there," Cardaronella said.
"If we continue to have a problem, most likely we will have to cycle off
our air-condition program customers - those who have voluntarily signed up for a
program to turn off the air conditioning when a power emergency occurs."
The recent Valley heat has also brought several "Spare-the-Air" days
to Tulare County, said Anthony Presto, public education representative for the
Northern region of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
"We've had a surprisingly good quality of air the first half of the
spare-the-air (season,)" Presto said. "Up until Monday, we hadn't had
any (spare-the-air) days and now, suddenly, we've had four (days) in a
row."
The district issues warnings to residents when ground-level ozone, the principle
pollutant in smog, reaches unhealthy levels for the general public. The
spare-the-air season runs during the hot weather months, from June to September.
There were 21 such days to date last year and only four so far this year, Presto
said.
Since 60-percent of the Valley's summertime air pollutants are due to vehicle
use, Presto said he applauds people for car-pooling to work and for practicing
other good driving habits which has been a principal factor in the reduction of
emissions.
"I hope people continue to cooperate as there is a higher need than ever
for people to continue to practice good habits," Presto said.
Since pollution generally increases with hot weather, there is relief in sight -
from the heat and from spare-the-air days.
"By the weekend it should be cooler and clearer," said Mike Sowko,
meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Hanford. "We're
also expecting some wind that will help clear the Valley. We've had far fewer
triple-digit days this year as compared to last year, which attributes to less
spare-the-air days."
Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, ext. 1050 or eavila@portervillerecorder.com
This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on August 13, 2004