500,000 without power in California!

paulr

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Mar 29, 2003
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Presumably that's because of demand caused by air conditioning, so power should be restored by nighttime.
 

Lynx_Arc

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Oct 1, 2004
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Tulsa,OK
Luckily I am 2000+ miles away as it is sweltering here at 92 degrees with almost 60% humidity, feels like it is over 100.
I bet we get some flashlight power outage stores CA style later this evening/tomorrow.
 

paulr

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Mar 29, 2003
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I don't think there will be a big run on flashlights. It's not like the east coast blackout. Rolling blackouts are fairly well known in California. They last just a few hours and they're always in the daytime, and they're not totally unexpected when they happen.
 

gadget_lover

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Oct 7, 2003
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Location
Near Silicon Valley (too near)
I just hate the rolling blackouts. I have everything on point of use UPS, but the power goes out for just a little longer than my UPS can handle. The end result is that I hav eto scurry around turning off the computers, tivos, etc.

Sucks.

On teh other hand, my house is on the same outage block as a hospital and fire station, so we are the last to ever be blacked out on purpose.

Daniel (livin large in central Ca.)
 

vcal

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Dec 16, 2000
Messages
3,074
Location
San Gabriel Valley
The infrequent -(in SoCal)- rolling blackouts would only last 30-60 minutes.

I've lived here for 50+ years -just outside L.A., and have not been hit by a "rolling blackout" yet! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Lucky? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

-Knock on wood. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

BB

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Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
2,129
Location
SF Bay Area
"Short" update here:

California ISO New Release (PDF):

[ QUOTE ]
The loss of a major western transmission line just as California power use was approaching its peak today forced the California ISO to issue a Transmission Emergency notice for Southern California only, and to request utilities in the Southland to reduce demand on the system by dropping 900 megawatts of firm load and 800 megawatts of voluntary, interruptible customers. California ISO ordered restoration of firm load (involuntary customers) at 4:35 p.m.

The Pacific DC Intertie, (PDCI) a 500-thousand volt transmission line that runs between Southern Oregon and Southern California suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of service just before 4:00 P.M. today. The loss of more than 2,800 megawatts of power coming into Southern California, coupled with the area's high demand required a reduction in system load to keep the grid in balance. Loads in southern California were running about 2,000 megawatts higher than anticipated due to temperatures that were up to 14 degrees higher than forecast.

No details are available yet about what caused the PDCI to trip off line.

The California ISO is charged with managing the flow of electricity along the long-distance,
high voltage power lines that make up the bulk of California's transmission system. The not-for-profit
public-benefit corporation assumed the responsibility in March, 1998, when California opened its energy
markets to competition and the state's investor-owned utilities turned their private transmission power
lines over to the California ISO to manage. The mission of the California ISO is to safeguard the reliable
delivery of electricity, facilitate markets and ensure equal access to a 12,500 circuit mile "electron
highway."

[/ QUOTE ]

-Bill
 

cobb

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Sep 26, 2004
Messages
2,957
Makes me wonder how the grid would handle EV owners plugging their cars in at work and home at night.

I understand over seas its common to have rolling outages and unregulated power. My power went off one night for a minute, then came back on. Usually at 6-7 am and 5-6pm my ups system will beep and sometimes the lights seem a tick lighter or darker.
 

paulr

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
10,832
Most theories about widespread EV deployment involve plugging them in only at night (off-peak utility load times), not during work hours.
 
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