Parched

As some early spring storms were hitting the parched Pacific Northwest, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) last week released its official summer electrical assessment, predicting sufficient supplies unless a 1-in-10-year excessive heat situation is encountered, and then the areas in the southern half of the state could turn up about 2,000 MW short in peak-demand situations. In addition to the vulnerability to an extreme hot spell, the southern parts of the state have less tolerance for a string of unplanned plant outages.