Power shortages a concern with troubled Calif. nuclear power plant offline

By Associated Press, Published: April 4 | Updated: Thursday, April 5, 6:35 AM

LOS ANGELES — It will take more than the flip of a switch to replace power lost from the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant.

State energy officials have already warned of rotating blackouts in the region if a heat wave hits and San Onofre stays dark, and plans for replacement power remain shaky. Also, the loss of the nuclear plant makes it harder to import power into the San Diego area, where reliable energy transmission has long been at issue.

“There is the potential for service interruptions. I could definitely see some customers being curtailed,” said Michael Shames, executive director of advocacy group Utility Consumers’ Action Network.

The twin reactors located between San Diego and Los Angeles have been idled while investigators determine why tubing carrying radioactive water is eroding at an unusual rate, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman will visit the plant Friday to highlight the agency’s concern over the ailing equipment.

San Onofre can generate enough electricity for 1.4 million homes, but it could take up to two months to restart two retired power plants in Huntington Beach that have been pinpointed as an important source of replacement power, officials said Wednesday.

The twin, natural gas-fired plants in Huntington Beach, in northern Orange County, were retired earlier this year. The gas line feeding the plants was severed and 3-foot holes were cut in the boilers.

The California Energy Commission has not received a request to restart, though state officials have identified it as a source of replacement power. Commission Deputy Director Roger Johnson said it might take up to two months for the operator, AES Corp., to work through steps to rekindle Huntington Beach.

Repairs to the boilers and other equipment could be completed within 30 days, predicted Barry Wallerstein, executive officer at the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

However, AES does not have a contract with the state to operate the units, and state agencies are still piecing together steps it would take to get the Huntington Beach units on line, Wallerstein added.

Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the agency that operates the state’s wholesale power system, the California Independent System Operator, did not dispute the possible two-month timeline.

“We are optimistic the units can be back in service in time for hot summer weather,” she said in a statement.

Eric Pendergraft, president of AES Southland, which operates the plants, said the company had not received a formal request from the California Independent System Operator to restart them. He said repairs and negotiating a contract could proceed simultaneously, allowing a restart in about a month.

“We are sort of on hold,” he said.

San Diego Gas & Electric counts on power from San Onofre to help the utility bring in electricity from elsewhere — it takes power to move power. Spokeswoman Jennifer Ramp said the loss of the plant can restrict power imports into San Diego area by up to 30 percent.

Without the nuclear plant “we are going to be reduced,” she said, adding that the utility hopes a new, $1.8 billion transmission line will be completed by summer, which would help fill any shortages.