Energy Alert Issued in California

May 31, 2002
FOLSOM, Calif. (AP) — California power grid operators issued their first alert in nine months, saying energy supplies were low because of a heat wave in the Southwest that forced out-of-state wholesalers to divert electricity elsewhere.

The California Independent System Operator declared the alert Thursday. It was the lowest level of warning used by the agency and called on power generators to avoid unnecessary outages.

The alerts were almost a daily occurrence in the summers of 2000 and 2001 when California was strapped for energy and threatened with rolling blackouts.

Thursday's warning came as a heat wave swept through Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Two large nuclear power plants in California were closed for routine maintenance, and there was a disruption in a north-south transmissionline, said ISO spokesman Gregg Fishman.

State power grid operators predicted last month that there was enough power to avoid rolling blackouts this summer. Fishman said the alert issued Thursday did not change that, although it also could serve as a reminder that consumers still need to conserve.

"I don't think we ever said we're completely out of the woods," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/31/energy-alert.htm