California blackouts blamed on poor electrical-grid preparation

The organization that manages California's electric grid was inadequately prepared for a scorching heat wave that led to rolling blackouts in a state already grappling with massive wildfires and a global pandemic, according to a New York Times report.

Droves of power plants were either down or producing below peak strength prior to the Golden State's record-breaking temperatures in mid-August, the Times reported, citing data from the dashboard maintained by the California Independent System Operator. Sites generating 15% of the electricity on California's grid were completely offline.

CAISO, as the organization is known, wrote in a letter to Californa Gov. Gavin Newsom that it's still trying to understand exactly why the waves of blackouts on Aug. 14 and 15 became necessary but conceded that "capacity shortfalls played a major role."

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"We scoured the system for every available megawatt. We had to be innovative and take a series of regulatory steps to allow more resources, and suppliers jumped in to help with any available resources," Vonette Fontaine, the CAISO spokesperson, said. "Some plants were not available to us because the high heat and long duration of use limits output. In fact, some equipment is not allowed to run at full capacity in high heat to prevent losing the entire unit.

Peak demands on those days, which had triple-digit temperatures, "were high but not above similar hot days in prior years," the agency wrote. "Our organizations will need to conduct a deep dive into how we ensure sufficient electric supply, and will make modifications to our reliability rules to make sure reliability resources can be available to address unexpected grid conditions."

The rolling blackouts CAISO ordered were the first in nearly 20 years.

The state’s three biggest utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric — turned off power to more than 410,000 homes and businesses for about an hour at a time until the emergency declaration ended 3 1/2 hours later.

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The state tried to prepare for the expected rise in electricity use by urging conservation and buying more power, but a high-pressure weather system building over Western states meant there was less available.

"We agree that the power outages experienced by Californians this week are unacceptable and unbefitting of our state and the people we serve," the agency wrote in its letter to Newsom.

The agency also preemptively warned the governor that it expects that "energy demand will remain high as the current heatwave persists."

California may face another shortage of power on Monday, Aug. 24, the agency warned, noting it will do "everything it can to avoid service interruptions."

The last time the state ordered rolling outages was during an energy crisis in 2001. Blackouts, which occurred several times from January to May, included one that affected more than 1.5 million customers.

The cause was a combination of energy shortages and market manipulation by energy wholesalers,  including Enron Corp., that drove up prices by withholding supplies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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This story has been updated to include a statement from the California Independent System Operator.