SDG&E Invokes Demand Bidding in Heat Wave

Record heat in Southern California early this week, combined with a number of plant outages and a congested transmission line south of Path 26, forced San Diego Gas & Electric to invoke demand bidding for the first time and the California Independent System Operator to request customers with discounted rates to shed load. Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power were also affected by the soaring temperatures?the latter hit with outages. The unusual heat wave motivated the three agencies to urge residential and commercial customers to conserve energy to help keep the juice flowing. ?This was the first time we ever invoked demand bidding,? said Stephanie Donovan, SDG&E spokesperson. Six major customers agreed to conserve between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in exchange for 50 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity saved. Additional business customers signed up to join the demand-bidding program the next day, she said. The problems that hit this week are seen as a sign of what?s ahead. ?We?re expecting we may see more of these regional transmission emergencies this summer,? Donovan said. The utility hopes to win state approval of its Miguel-Mission transmission line this summer to increase transmission capacity into its service area. If approved, the line would be constructed by 2007. As the mercury passed the century mark May 3, Southern California residents, including those in the coastal areas, cranked up air conditioners, pushing demand 3,000 MW above CAISO?s forecast. At the same time, more than 7,000 MW of power was unavailable because of scheduled and unplanned facility maintenance, causing three 500 kW lines near Chino to hit capacity as demand soared. ?There was no additional generation in Southern California to ramp up,? said Stephanie McCorkle, CAISO spokesperson. Some 5,000 MW of generating capacity south of Path 15 was down for maintenance and another 2,000 MW unexpectedly off line, McCorkle said. About 750 MW of load was dropped by the interruptible customers, which avoided blackouts in Edison and SDG&E territories. Edison dropped more than 660 MW and San Diego 30 MW, and the Modesto Irrigation District turned off some of its water pumps in the region, cutting 60 MW of demand, according to CAISO?s Lori O?Donnelly. LADWP is not part of the CAISO grid and faced its own set of supply problems. In Los Angeles, outages hit two neighborhoods Monday. More than a thousand customers in Cheviot Hills lost power for nearly four hours beginning around 4:30 p.m. Less than two hours later about 1,000 customers lost power for more than an hour in South Los Angeles, according to LADWP spokesperson Gail Harris. ?We had too many people using appliances at the same time,? she said, adding that the high use caused some transformers to blow. The department is planning a conservation campaign this summer. Elizabeth McCarthy also contributed to this report.

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SDG&E Invokes Demand Bidding in Heat Wave

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