We’ve all been hearing about likely PG&E power shutoffs — Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) — to reduce California wildfire risks. And in Santa Clara, we’re all asking the same question: Will shutoffs affect Santa Clara’s municipal electric company, Silicon Valley Power (SVP)?
The short answer is: Unlikely.
“So far the City of Santa Clara has never been called on to curtail use,” according to SVP Assistant Director Kathleen Hughes. That’s not to say it can’t be, but the nature of SVP’s infrastructure and system means that it’s less likely to be, Hughes says.
There are two parts to the grid that bring electricity to your house.
“There’s a transmission grid, which delivers the power to the local area, and then there’s that distribution grid that takes that transmission and distributes it [to customers],” said Hughes.
“PG&E can’t shut off our power in the city. They can coordinate with us, they can talk to our control, which they do, but they can’t shut us off,” said Hughes.
In the case of a PSPS, PG&E notifies SVP at least 24 hours before the power is shut off.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) controls the flow of electricity across high-voltage, long-distance transmission lines, and typical power shut-offs are in the distribution side of the grid, Hughes says. That makes it much less likely for transmission lines to be shut off.
Santa Clara has other protections, too, including multiple transmission lines coming into the city.
“We have four connections to big [transmission] lines that come into our receiving stations,” said Hughes. “SVP also owns a 230 KV line that brings power into the city. So those transmission lines don’t tend to be impacted by PSPS in this area.”
The utility also maintains a wildfire mitigation plan that includes shutting down two small, remote hydro projects during high-risk periods, despite minimal wildfire risk in the city itself.
SVP also has a protocol for reducing demand — load shedding — when the grid is at risk of being overloaded — even without a PSPS — to maintain electrical service to homes and critical services like hospitals and fire stations.
Through a program of the California State Energy Commission, the first group asked to reduce use is industrial users.
“Businesses get financial assistance to be on standby,” explained Hughes, “and to be ready to drop their load, and they get paid for their generator time.”
Rotating power to homes is the “last resort.”
However, Hughes emphasizes the importance of resident preparedness for outages, noting that while SVP has high reliability, power is never fully guaranteed and people should always have contingency plans, especially those relying on medical equipment.
SVP offers information on being prepared for power outages (www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/outages-and-alerts/in-case-of-a-power-outage) as well as a page on PG&E power shutdowns (www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/safety/pg-e-s-public-safety-power-shutoff-program).
Formed in 1998, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is an independent nonprofit that manages the state’s bulk electric power system. Its board of governors is appointed by the governor of California.
CAISO offers real-time visibility of the California grid on its website. For example, you can see what the current load is on the system and how much of that demand is being delivered by renewable energy.
Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.
Related Posts:
City Approves SVP Upgrades, Eminent Domain On Another Property
Santa Clara Enacts Eminent Domain For SVP Expansion, Approves Massive Station Rebuilds
0 comments