Consumers Help Prevent Power Outages Amid Heatwaves
Posted on July 7, 2021 by Sudeshna Pal
Tags, Energy
Earlier this summer, heat waves in California placed severe strain on the state’s power system. These conditions echoed summer 2021, when California experienced rolling blackouts for the first time since 2001. The black-outs were related to electricity supply shortages. Thankfully, the power stayed on this time, partly due to energy conservation efforts from California residents.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which oversees most of the state’s electric grid, called on electricity customers to use less energy at home. Termed the Flex Alert, the call was issued for a span of 4-5 hours during the evenings of June 17 and 18. The Flex Alert urges customers to voluntarily reduce their use of major appliances, turn off unnecessary lights, and set the thermostat at 78 degrees or higher during designated hours.
Measures like these are collectively called Demand Response, because they allow the utility to respond to periods of high energy demand by incentivizing customers to reduce their household energy use. Participating customers lower pressure on the grid while saving money on their bill. While we do not know the exact impact this demand response measure had on preventing power outages, the measure reduced energy use by 300-500 megawatts. This is the equivalent of adding an entire gas or coal plant to the grid.
Utilities are required to provide reliable service to customers at reasonable rates. As electric utilities plan for generation resources to meet the daily demand for energy along with high demand in extreme conditions, the role of demand response is often understated. CUB advocates for demand response resources in utility planning, as these are also some of the cheapest resources available. For instance, in the recent Integrated Resource Plan filed by Idaho Power, CUB noted that the utility had no plans to invest in new demand response resources for another decade. CUB commented to persuade the utility to aggressively plan for demand response resources sooner rather than later.
There is a lesson for utilities and regulators in Oregon to learn from California. The energy system is working hard to adapt to climate change while adopting clean energy resources. Utilities and system operators increasingly need customer cooperation through demand response, to make this transition successful without compromising service reliability. We saw this recently with Portland General Electric. During the record breaking heat wave over the last weekend in June, the company activated its Peak-Time Rebates Program which provides rebates to customers who reduce their usage during high demand periods.
More extreme weather conditions can be expected as our climate continues to change. The role of utility customers will be crucial in mitigating energy crises resulting from these events. CUB will ensure that utilities serving Oregon proactively include demand response resources in their planning and evaluate these resources appropriately.
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07/07/21 | 0 Comments | Consumers Help Prevent Power Outages Amid Heatwaves