Southern California has met the first summer-related demand challenge of its power grid without the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field. The two-day alert from Jun. 19-20 was the first time the grid has had a peak demand period since Aliso Canyon was taken off line on Oct. 23 after a well began leaking. California Independent Systems Operator (Casio) spokesman Steven Greenlee says public cooperation and cooler temperatures than expected helped. On Jun. 20, when temperatures hit 100°F (38°C) in the Los Angeles Basin, demand peaked at 44.5 giga-watts. Casio, he said, had been forecasting peak demand of 45.5 GW. The load on the grid dropped to just under 42.6 GW on Jun. 21 and 39 GW on Jun. 22 as temperatures settled back into a more seasonal range in the 80s. "Overall, things went very well. That tells us that the Flex Alert and voluntary conservation kicked in very well and helped shave the megawatts off our demand. I think we met the first test and passed it with an' A,'" Greenlee said. Flex Alerts call on consumers to conserve electricity during heat waves or unexpected power plant outages.
展开▼
