California has found the solution. Golly gee, those Californians discovered it's just that simple. Ignorance is simpler.

Tuesday March 20 6:21 PM ET California Suspends Blackouts; Outlook Improving

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California power officials, citing an improvement in available electric supplies, ordered an end Tuesday to the rolling blackouts that crippled parts of the state for a second consecutive day.

A spokesman for the California Independent System Operator (ISO) said voluntary conservation and emergency power flowing into the state from hydro-electric facilities in the Southwest were bringing much-needed relief to the state's overloaded transmission grid.

With continued conservation and the extra power, there was a possibility further blackouts could be avoided during the evening hours, when energy use typically peaks.

ISO spokesman Patrick Dorinson said the outlook for Wednesday was also improving, with a big power unit in neighboring Nevada returning to service this afternoon.

A transformer fire at the Mohave power plant, a key source of power for Southern California, knocked nearly 1,400 megawatts off the grid early Monday, enough to power about 1.4 million homes.

Dorinson said an emergency shipment Tuesday afternoon of 300 megawatts of hydro-power from the federal Glen Canyon dam in Arizona also provided much-needed relief for the California grid.

The ISO also said some emergency hydro supplies from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) dams on the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington also helped ease the emergency.

BPA officials were meeting Tuesday with the ISO to prepare for what is shaping up to be a tough summer on the California and Northwest grids, said Dorinson. Drought in the Northwest has slashed the amount of hydro-electricity available for export.

With the suspension of rolling blackouts Tuesday, which unplugged at least half a million homes and businesses from San Diego north to Sacramento, the ISO also downgraded its power emergency, signaling blackouts are less likely but conservation efforts are still essential.

ISO officials warned Tuesday California's 34 million residents must not abandon conservation steps if they want to see more stable conditions on their power network.

``Energy conservation has to be as familiar to all Californians as recycling papers and bottles,'' added Dorinson.

-- Tom Flook (tflook@earthlink.net), March 20, 2001

Answers

It just amazes me that the BOA is still rescuing CalISO when they will royally shafted on payment, payback and summer competition.

The payback is that Cal is supposed to be send 2 times the power north at night so the resivours (sp?) are given a chance to refill.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), March 20, 2001.