It seems they had to declare a Stage 1 Power Alert today... Why you ask?
The Independent System Operator, which manages much of the state's power grid, lost two plants that supplied about 800 megawatts early Monday, then saw electricity use surpass forecasts by 1,100 megawatts, mainly due to higher than average temperatures, said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.
Okay, it's not the height of summer - even though the temps are higher than normal. So to me, this is a bit of an ominous development. No tremendously aberrant temperatures or activity and yet there is still an emergency with the electrical power. And this is the spin they put on things...
Temperatures in Southern California were running around 10 to 12 degrees higher than forecast, she said, but that didn't account for all the higher demand for power."Probably what we're seeing is an increase in growth due to the economy rebounding," McCorkle said. "Power grid usage has always been an economic indicator. Strong growth translates into an increased appetite for electricity."
Well, a growing economy is a good thing in most cases. It seems like most of those cases would be everywhere except California. My, my I hope no one is counting on having the power on all summer.
A few suggestions - buy generators, move elsewhere, move elsewhere (oops I'm repeating myself). California might be a beautiful place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I hope I'm simply being very pessimistic based on a faulty news report. Guess we'll see. In the meantime - here's to keeping the lights on!
Yea, that doesn't look good to say the least. It seems as if California is just bred to be an anti-business state as of late. Whether it be the higher property taxes, the increase in gas taxes, or the regulations (more taxes) placed on different industries we just keep getting screwed. THIS is why a liberal mind towards economics gives us...
Posted by: Christopher | March 30, 2004 at 09:56 AM
Not to mention the fact that they won't let any more power plants be built. I love that one! I guess if you pretend hard enough this actually works : if we don't build any more power plants, people will use less power... Yeah right!
Posted by: Teresa | March 30, 2004 at 11:30 AM
No one said liberalism made sense...least not sane people...
Posted by: Christopher | March 30, 2004 at 04:18 PM
Tell them to build some fucking power plants! Or let their eco-terrorists sit in a fucking hot dark room spanking their monkey and eating tofu. Just leave our power grid out of it or pay the ransom we will demand for them being idiots.
Posted by: Madfish Willie | March 31, 2004 at 02:05 PM
LOL - I think the Bartender has put it in a nutshell - a very appropriate place for most things California...
Posted by: Teresa | March 31, 2004 at 02:30 PM