A deep dive into the causes of the first rolling blackouts to hit California in 19 years is coming soon from state agencies but a preliminary report from an energy consulting group in Sacramento points to a number of reasons — including an overreliance on out-of-state energy imports.
The Ramona Municipal Water District has received some inquiries from concerned customers regarding the impact of the SDG&E power outages on RMWD’s water system during fire season and COVID.
As many of us in Ramona are aware, RMWD purchases 100 percent of our water from the San Diego County Water Authority and the water is pumped nearly 1,000 feet “up the hill” to Ramona. During the last several years, RMWD has made several important investments in natural gas technology and emergency generators to provide a second source of power for pumping, improve water reliability, reduce pumping costs and protect Ramona in emergencies.
Carlsbad, Calif. (August 18, 2020) –To support statewide emergency energy conservation efforts, Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority are temporarily reducing water production at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
While the plant uses less than 1% of peak energy demand in San Diego Gas & Electric’s service territory, Poseidon and the Water Authority are committed to supporting electrical reliability while ensuring continued delivery of safe and reliable water supplies.
California’s power grid operator delivered a blistering rebuke Monday to the state’s Public Utilities Commission, blaming the agency for rotating power outages — the first since the 2001 energy crisis — and warning of bigger blackouts to come.
San Diego Gas & Electric was directed to begin rolling blackouts Monday that could have effected 100,000 customers, but the power crisis was averted at the last moment. “Rotating outages were averted in San Diego and southern Orange counties today, in part thanks to local residents and businesses heeding the call to cut back on energy usage amid a prolonged heat wave and exceptionally high energy demand,” the utility said in a statement.
Electric prices in the West soared to record highs as California consumers prepared for more outages on Monday after the grid operator ordered utilities to cut power over the weekend to reduce system strain during a brutal heat wave.
San Diego Gas & Electric residential customers will see their electricity bills reduced by $32.28 in both August and September thanks to a climate credit program. Designed to fight climate change, the California Climate Credit will come from a state program that requires power plants, natural gas providers and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits. The credit on customers’ bills is their share of the payments from the state’s program.
San Diego Gas & Electric linemen understand risk.
The city government of San Diego is fighting with San Diego Gas & Electric over an ongoing project that replaces overhead power lines with underground lines in various parts of the city.
At issue is at least $22.1 million in invoices racked up from the end of 2018 through February of this year. City Attorney Mara Elliott says the price tag is too high and SDG&E has not properly documented the costs. The utility counters that it has substantiated its charges to city officials and the bill fairly represents work rendered.
Transmission system operator Blain Adams is one of 12 employees at San Diego Gas & Electric who has volunteered to take the classification of “essential worker” to the extreme.
