3 Power Plant Outages Tax Electricity System
California’s electricity supplies were stretched Monday by three plant outages and a transmission glitch that occurred when a logging truck drove under a high-voltage power line.
About 1,500 megawatts of power was lost Sunday night when two Northern California power plants tripped off-line, said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the Independent System Operator, the manager of the state’s electricity grid.
A 750-megawatt power plant in Southern California went off-line a few hours later, McCorkle said.
The outages came on a day when peak electricity use was expected to top 41,500 megawatts because of hot weather throughout the state, she said. A megawatt is approximately enough power for 750 homes.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
