For the first time since the middle of last summer, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) last Wednesday called a Stage 1 power alert, driven mostly by a temperature spike statewide that caught the grid operator by surprise. Peak demand on Wednesday shot all the way up to nearly 40,000 MW, which was about 4,000 MW more than expected.

Coincidentally, the power alert, which was also prompted by some 6,000 MW of capacity that was off line for planned and unplanned repairs, came a day after California’s major energy agencies, including CAISO, held a news conference to urge continued demand-side management and conservation during the coming summer despite continuing predictions that the state has adequate supplies for even the most extreme peak-demand situations.

CAISO’s spokespeople emphasized that Wednesday’s unexpected alert (the first of a three-stage process) did not signal a turnaround in this summer’s predictions of supply adequacy.

Since the period of almost daily power alerts in the state’s 2000-2001 crisis period, California has had few alerts, the last being last July 9 and 10, 2002 when Stage 1’s were called both days and a Stage 2 on the 10th, according to a CAISO spokesperson in Folsom, CA.

In response to Wednesday’s alert, the state’s two largest private-sector electric utilities, Southern California Edison Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., made an emergency appeal to their customers to voluntarily cutback on their power use.

Milder temperatures, lower demand and an increase in supply were seen Thursday with a further drop in demand on Friday.

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