Watchdog says North America summer power supply OK
NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters)
The North American Electric Reliability Council, however, warned that
unanticipated equipment problems and extremely hot weather could cause problems
in California and New York.
"NERC and the industry have taken a number of steps to improve
reliability in the wake of last summer's blackout," said Michehl Gent, NERC
president and chief executive, in a release.
"If all entities comply with NERC reliability standards, then there
should be no uncontrolled blackouts," Gent said.
Last August, a widespread blackout that started in Ohio and spread to the
U.S. Northeast and Ontario, Canada, left 50 million people without power.
NERC, which recommends rules to ensure the reliability of the North American
electric system, was created in 1968 in the wake of a major blackout in the
Northeast.
In its assessment, NERC said it expected fuel supplies to be adequate and
transmission systems to perform reliably, although some transmission bottlenecks
were expected to occur in some areas again this summer.
"Unanticipated equipment problems and extremely hot weather can combine
to produce situations in which demand temporarily exceeds available generation
and transmission capacity," the assessment said.
Additionally, in some local areas -- southern California and New York City's
suburbs in Connecticut and Long Island -- grid operators may need to implement
controlled demand reductions to maintain the constant balance between supply and
demand.
LOCAL PROBLEMS
"The potential still exists for extremely hot weather and transmission
outages which would result in some local problems (in the New York
region)," George Bartlett, chairman of NERC's Reliability Assessment
Subcommittee, told reporters during a conference call.
Controlled demand reductions include pleas for conservation, interrupting
service to industrial and commercial customers, voltage reductions -- brownouts
-- and, in the worst case, temporary blackouts in specific locations.
California was another area where potential problems were seen during
extremely hot weather, which significantly raises demand due to heavy use of air
conditioners.
The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pat Wood, earlier
this month said he was concerned about "very troublesome conditions"
in California and warned of a repeat of the state's 2000-2001 energy shortage.
The state's grid operator, the California Independent System Operator, has
already this year issued a stage one alert, which prompts a voluntary call for
conservation.
A stage two alert results in the loss of service to some commercial
customers, known as interruptibles, who receive power at a discount in return
for agreeing to shut down when supplies are tight. Stage three can spark
rotating blackouts.
"There could possibly be times (during the summer) they have to go to a
stage two alert and hit the interruptibles," Bartlett said.
NERC projected peak demand this summer would increase 2.5 percent versus the
2003 actual peak.
(Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in Los Angeles)
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