California watching wildfire threat to grid

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - The California electric grid operator called on additional power plants to be ready to run as a deadly wildfire expanded near Los Angeles, increasing the threat to high-voltage power lines serving the city.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) asked customers to limit electric use as the fire raging in the Angeles National Forest has the potential to damage two 500-kilovolt lines northeast of the Acton area, the municipal utility said in a release.

Those 500-kv lines are critical to importing a steady supply of power into Los Angeles, LADWP said. The agency has activated its power plants in the area in the event more generation is needed.

"The threat to these lines, combined with the typical high energy demand on hot days, makes it even more necessary that all customers make every effort to reduce their energy demand," the agency said.

The Station fire doubled to nearly 86,000 acres over night, officials said.

Just recently, as many as five power lines in Southern California were knocked out by the fire for at least some period of time, but no electric service was disrupted, said Gregg Fishman, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator.

No lines were affected by the fire, Fishman said.

"Still, the potential is there," he said. "We are monitoring the situation very closely."

The grid operator has called on additional power plants across the state to be ready to step in to supply electricity should transmission be affected, Fishman said.

Meanwhile, many areas of the state continue to experience above-normal temperatures, boosting normal August power needs.

The Cal ISO system, which transmits about 80 percent of the electricity used in California, saw power demand to peak at 42,600 megawatts August 31 and 43,370 MW September.

Today's high in Los Angeles is forecast to reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius), 11 degrees above normal for late August.

One megawatt in Southern California can serve about 650 average households but fewer homes during periods of high heat when demand soars.

Related News

iran nuclear plant deal

Iran Says Deals to Rehabilitate, Develop Iraq Power Grid Finalized

TEHRAN - Iran and Iraq have finalized two deals to rehabilitate and develop the power grid of Iraq, IRNA cited the Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian.

Ardakanian met his Iraqi counterpart Majid Mahdi Hantoush in Tehran on Tuesday evening on the sidelines of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s trip to the Islamic Republic on his first foreign visit.

“It was decided that the contracts related to reducing losses on the electricity distribution network in the provinces of Karbala and Najaf, as well as the contract for repairing Iraq’s distribution transformers would be finalized and signed,” the Iranian minister said.

Iraq relies on Iran for…

READ MORE

Ukraine's parliament backs amendments to electricity market law

READ MORE

dubai energy meeting

Dubai Planning Large-Scale Solar Powered Hydrogen Production

READ MORE

tower pylons

Powering Towards Net Zero: The UK Grid's Transformation Challenge

READ MORE

San Diego Gas & Electric Orders Mitsubishi Power Emerald Storage Solution

READ MORE