Flex Alert issued for Northern California

Jul 01 - San Jose Mercury News (CA)

With a record heat wave blazing across much of the West, the California Independent System Operated issued a "Flex Alert" for Northern California Monday and Tuesday.

Consumers from the Bay Area to the Central Valley and Central Coast are urged to reduce their energy use to avoid the possibility of outages. Increased used of air conditioners in PG&E's vast northern and Central California territory is driving record demand on the state's electric grid.

The outage at PG&E's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, as well as lower hydroelectric power, also triggered the Flex Alert.

"We're asking for conservation between noon and seven p.m., and that has a lot to do with the supply crunch," said Stephanie McCorkle of the CalISO. "People get tired of the heat and they start cranking up the AC. If people could watch their air conditioning use today and Tuesday, things should get better by Wednesday."

A Flex Alert has not been issued in southern California, which is benefitting from a marine layer that is helping to cool the heavily populated coastal regions.

McCorkle said that the July 4th holiday should help with demand on the grid, as businesses and office buildings shut down.

Consumers are asked to turn off unneeded lights and use major appliances, like dishwashers and clotheswashers, in the evening hours. Houses can also be cooled by pulling drapes and blinds closed to block out the sun.

The CalISO, which manages most of the

states's electric grid, expects peak demand to reach 47,000 megawatts around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

"We're seeing the kind of laod on the system that was there prior to the recession," said McCorkle.

California's electric grid is being helped by the fact that a growing number of solar systems are producing energy. The CalISO reported a new solar generation peak of 2,245 MW at 1:24 pm on June 21, the longest day of the year.

Consumers can download the CalISO's free app, called ISO today, through iPhone and Android app stores. When downloading ISO Today, users will be asked whether they want to receive grid notifictions, includingFlex Alerts, that signal when customers should to do their part to reduce the strain on the grid.

Contact Dana Hull at 408-920-2706. Follow her at Twitter.com/danahull.

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