A second day of electricalblackouts hit California yesterday in the face of a continuingheat wave and out-of-service power plants.
The blackouts were expected to hit 400,000 households in thestate. On Monday about 225,000 homes lost power for about an hour at atime when air conditioners and other appliances were being heavilyused.
California's Independent System Operator (ISO) which oversees thestate's power grid said heavy usage again overloaded the system yesterday.
Regulators issued renewed pleas for conservation as thestate's electrical reserves dipped to 2 per cent of normal.
"We are seeing the same situation again," said Ms Stephanie McCorkle, a spokesman for ISO. "We have record temperatures and aloss of capacity."
Four crucial nuclear-powered electricity plants are down forrepairs and supplies from other areas in the west are in shortsupply because of the widespread heat wave.
Energy officials say this week's situation will continuethroughout the summer. "It's a taste of what summer is going to be like," said Mr John McIntosh, an ISO official.
The state's crisis stems from the 1996 deregulation of itsenergy system which restricted what California utilities couldcharge consumers but not what wholesalers could charge for power.
AFP