Power system to meet California summer demand-study
In the forecast, the Commission said ample resources should be available to meet peak loads and operating reserves will be sufficient even with a very warm summer.
The Commission, however, urged consumers to continue conserving electricity on hot afternoons, noting air conditioners use about 30 percent of total consumption during peak summer hours.
The outlook showed reserve margins, or the level of electricity supplies above demand, are about 22 percent for average weather conditions and 14 percent under hotter-than-normal weather.
California however is divided into regions north and south of Path 26, a transmission line area that frequently has constraints during periods of high electricity demand. Under hotter-than-normal temperatures, the Commission said supplies could be tight in Southern California with reserve margins dipping below the 15 percent to 17 percent target.
Related News

Is tidal energy the surge remote coastal communities need?
VANCOUVER - Many remote West Coast communities are reliant on diesel for electricity generation, which poses a number of negative economic and environmental effects.
But some sites along B.C.’s extensive coastline are ideal for tidal energy micro-grids that may well be the answer for off-grid communities to generate clean power, suggested experts at a COAST (Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies) virtual event Wednesday.
There are 40 isolated coastal communities, many Indigenous communities, and 32 of them are primarily reliant on diesel for electricity generation, said Ben Whitby, program manager at PRIMED, a marine renewable energy research lab at the University of…