Will Solano County lose electrical power during the heat wave?
Officials at Pacific Gas & Electric and the state's power grid operator say it's possible, but unlikely.
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
Officials with the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and the California Independent System Operator (SO) say they are expecting to see a sharp rise in electrical usage during this week’s heat wave.
With temperatures rising to well over 100 degrees in Solano County and the greater Sacramento Valley region, there is an expectation that residents and businesses will increase their use of air conditioning and other power-hungry appliances in an effort to cool off and stay comfortable.
This heat wave, which starts on Wednesday, is particularly problematic because of its size: Record high temperatures are forecast not just in Northern California, but in several large regions of the western United States, including Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming.
During localized periods of intense heat, California simply imports more power from neighboring states as needed. But the sheer size of this anticipated heat wave means California may not be able to rely on neighboring states for additional electrical power, especially if those states are seeing their own increase in demand.
Both PG&E and California ISO say there are looking at different plans to offset what they believe will be an extreme use of electricity. For now, those plans don’t include rolling blackouts anywhere in the state. Instead, energy officials are relying upon voluntary measures taken by residents and businesses to reduce electrical demand where practical, including:
Reducing the use of power-hungry appliances like clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers during the hottest parts of the day;
Setting the thermostat to 78 degrees or higher, if health conditions allow;
Turning off unnecessary lights and unplugging appliances and other devices when not in use;
Keeping doors and windows closed when air conditioning is in use;
Keeping refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible; and
Pre-charging electric vehicles and other devices that depend on batteries during off-peak hours, including overnight.
California ISO says it may call for a Flex Alert during the warmest parts of the day if it notices a severe spike in electrical use. During a Flex Alert, residents and businesses are asked to voluntarily take the above measures and others to reduce the strain on the electrical grid, something that has worked in the past.
“If a Flex Alert is called this week, consumer conservation can make a big difference, as it has during past heat waves when such concerted action helped avoid grid emergencies, including rotating outages,” a California ISO spokesperson wrote in a press release this week.
Still, there is the possibility of localized power outages due to equipment failures. In a statement provided to Solano NewsNet, a spokesperson for PG&E said transformers used by the company typically rely on lower temperatures overnight to cool down, but that is unlikely to happen during this extended period of hot weather:
“Transformers, which help distribute power to homes and businesses, need periods of time when they can cool down, and that usually happens overnight, when temperatures drop,” the spokesperson said. “When we have unusual heat events with sustained high overnight temperatures, transformers are unable to cool down. That puts stress on the transformer’s components, and they can become fatigued and can fail.”
It can be hard to predict where transformers might fail, but PG&E says it is more likely to occur along “coastal areas with more-moderate average temperatures” compared to interior areas like Solano County and the Sacramento valley, where transformers designed to accommodate higher temperatures are installed.
Should power outages occur in Solano County, PG&E says it has personnel who are ready to respond. Residents and businesses can report localized power outages by visiting PG&E’s interactive outage map or by calling 1-800-743-5000.
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