When the POWER goes OUT
“ Upgrades to the local power grid will include replacing portions of existing 115 kV transmission lines and building a new substation and two new transmission lines. The project will provide the power grid in southern Santa Clara County with an additional connection to the regional transmission system, increasing the local grid’ s capacity and reliability.”
PG & E, South County Power Connect, Fact Sheet, July 2016
This process often takes four to five years from identification of need to launching a completed project into service. It includes numerous opportunities for public comment. While South County residents can’ t dictate what’ s done with our power infrastructure, we can advocate for local needs to influence state-level decisions.
With that being said, we can only make our voices heard if we educate ourselves about the facts, communicate our concerns to our city councilmembers, and show up at public meetings armed with informed comments and probative questions.
RESOURCES
Pacific Gas & Electric— pge. com Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority— svcleanenergy. org California Energy Commission— energy. ca. gov / portfolio / California Independent System Operator( California ISO)— caiso. com
With longer, hotter summers, and more people turning to electricity as part of their clean energy mix, we need to think about outages. We’ ve all heard the Flex Alerts issued by the California Independent System Operator, asking residents and businesses to voluntarily cut back on electricity use during peak hours( 2- 9 pm). The major culprit is air conditioning.
Overloading the power grid not only causes outages but can also damage equipment in local power facilities. Are the rolling blackouts that signaled California’ s 2000 and 2001 energy crisis a thing of the past? Perhaps. Our grid infrastructure is more robust, with more generating capacity using more renewable resources.
We’ ve added solar generation to the grid. And the heavy winter snowmelt has brought us more hydropower this summer than in years past. But questions remain. Does the state have enough power capacity to meet its needs? How tight are supplies? Is conservation needed?
Where a power plant is physically located can dictate how effectively and efficiently electricity can be delivered to where it’ s needed, and congestion on the power lines can limit the ability to do that. PG & E wants to build more substations in South County, but we don’ t currently know where or when.
The bottom line: we should heed warnings to cut back power during peak periods. It’ s how we, as individuals, can help make a difference.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 gmhtoday. com
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