The California Independent System Operator has approved three reliability improvements for storage management that are set to take effect this summer when extreme heat could cause a spike in demand.
It is the eighth day in a row that a flex alert has been called in California, reports NBC 7’s Melissa Adan.
VIDEO: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/videos/stage-2-power-emergency-flex-alert-in-effect/3041835/
The operator of the state’s power grid warned residents Tuesday to prepare for possible rolling blackouts, as a drawn-out heat wave reaches its peak and drives electricity demand to an anticipated record level.
VIDEO: The heat wave is stretching into the seventh day and relief is not expected anytime soon which means the demand for energy is straining the grid. The California Independent System Operator has issued a Flex Alert asking residents to conserve energy during peak use but as KPBS reporter Alexander Nguyen shows us it is also tapping other sources for energy.
The California Independent System Operator approved a transmission plan Thursday that includes 23 projects, estimated to cost nearly $3 billion, to cope with the dramatic increase in renewable generation and forecasted load growth in its footprint.
With an $18 million boost from the state, a major energy storage project using hydroelectric power is taking shape at the San Vicente Reservoir, nestled in the Cuyamaca Mountains near Lakeside.
The long talked about San Vicente Energy Storage Facility — proposed by the city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority — received the funding earlier this month when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the state budget. The $18 million will be spent to tackle some of the preliminary work needed to make the “pumped hydro” project a reality, such as initial design, environmental reviews and federal licensing.
“We believe the project is a critical component to meeting the state’s needs for integrating renewables” into the power grid, said Gary Bousquet, deputy director of engineering at the County Water Authority.
California is going through a dramatic energy transition. The state has set a goal to derive 100 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045 and last week Gov. Gavin Newsom directed state agencies to look at moving the target up to 2035.
That means finding a way to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s power grid while at the same time ensuring the power system remains reliable and affordable.
It’s a balancing act.
With more than 4 million acres burned this year – shattering a state record – California’s wildfire season came with a wicked ferocity, along with the climate-induced crises of crippling heatwaves and forced power outages.
On August 14, 2018, Joshua Novacheck, a 30-year-old research engineer for the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was presenting the most important study of his nascent career. He couldn’t have known it yet, but things were about to go very wrong.
New wildfires ravaged bone-dry California during a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw a dramatic airlift of more than 200 people trapped by flames and ended with the state’s largest utility turning off power to 172,000 customers to try to prevent its power lines and other equipment from sparking more fires.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
