California Blackout

2 Pages 570 Words

California Blackouts
Beginning in the winter of 2000, California’s power supply has had a shortage leading to many blackouts across the state. Electricity cannot be stored; it has to be generated, transformed, and distributed to meet the exact demand. Therefore, a power shortage occurs when the demand is not immediately met. There are four main causes of the blackouts: restricted hydroelectric power, no new facilities, growing population, and price mitigation.
First, California has been relying on Pacific Northwest power industries to supply the generation of power. Because of recent droughts in the area, reservoir levels are too low to keep up with the growing demand for electricity in California. They cannot generate enough power to be considered a reliable source. Hence, the hydroelectric power companies have breached their agreement to supply power.
Second, since 1970 there have been no new nuclear power plants built. The reason is that there has been tremendous pressure from environmentalists to keep the area free of the nuclear power industry. In addition, there have been no new generators produced to keep up with the growing population.
Third, the growing population has posed to be another source of the problem. There have been dramatic increases in computers, air conditioners, and entertainment systems. Also, there have been increases in energy intensive businesses.
Fourth, power shortages have created an increase in demand for electricity. The price for electricity has now increased dramatically from five cents per KWH to over one dollar per KWH. However, the Public Utility Board has limited distributors to charge only seven cents per KWH. Due to these conditions, suppliers are in billion-dollar debt. The government needs to use its powers of the utility industry to aid California in its power shortages.
In order to get the region back into the 21st century the local governments are going to have ...