Connell said she has received 25 contracts from 17 power suppliers. She declined to release details of the contracts, saying they are complicated and have varying prices. The utilities sold nearly two dozen major power plants capable of producing more than 20,000 megawatts. Three Texas firms purchased plants producing 7,000 megawatts. The power supply situation in California remained sound enough yesterday to ward off blackouts, although temperatures are on the rise throughout the state.
More heat means more air conditioning, and a greater strain on the system.
But starting next month, the state's electricity grid managers plan to provide businesses and consumers with better forecasts of potential rolling blackouts. The agency also plans to give a 30-minute warning before it orders utilities to cut power to customers, posting information about probable interruptions on its Web site. O'Donley said many details about how notifications will occur still have to be worked out, including whether e-mails or pagers might be used. The state Auditor General said in a report on energy deregulation that the state is not meeting some of its goals for conservation and for building new power plants. The auditor also said the PUC does not have a process for quickly approving new transmission lines.