LOS ANGELES - Conservation among Californians Tuesday helped keep the state from breaking the record for electricity consumption set Monday, said the California power grid operator.
No power outages were reported in California as the state joined most of the United States in setting peak power highs so far this week.
"It looks like conservation played a role in keeping us under the record," said Gregg Fishman, spokesman for the power grid operator California Independent System Operator.
Ample supplies of hydroelectricity, imported power from nearby states, and new generation from in-state plants helped to ease the strain on the California grid Tuesday, Fishman said.
Fishman said there was no clear proof of consumers turning off air conditioners and home appliances, but it's likely.
"It was probably a combination of things," said Fishman, including Gov. Arnold's Schwarzenegger's call for state buildings to cut power use by 25 percent and some cloud cover over key areas of Southern California that cut temperatures.
The peak power demand Tuesday was 46,373 megawatts just before 4 p.m. PDT. Monday, the Cal ISO said the peak demand was a record of 46,561 megawatts.
While temperatures are expected to cool slightly over most of the state Wednesday, real power demand is still seen higher than 46,000 megawatts.
"I know I sound like a broken record," said Fishman. "Conservation is really critical when we hit these high demand days like these."
The Cal ISO extended through Wednesday restrictions saying that generating plants must delay all but emergency maintenance.
The Cal ISO operates a power grid that flows about 80 percent of the electricity used in the state. It operates the grid for the three major investor-owned utilities in the state.
The "Conserve-O-Meter" that the Cal ISO uses to illustrate the need for power conservation was at the highest level, "critical," for the second straight day.
"Hydropower is making a real difference on the system. Usually we see a little drop-off at this time of year but hydro generation has been running at almost 100 percent. We're in much better shape than in a typical year," Fishman said.
Susanne Garfield, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, said the state has added more than 2,000 megawatts at new power plants this year and a net total of 8,400 megawatts since the height of the California power crisis in 2001.
In California, one megawatt can serve about 700 residential customers in normal demand periods, but less during peak demand such as this week.
(Additional reporting by Leonard Anderson in San Francisco)
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