I-Team: Power Struggle Part 1
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) - Soaring temperatures and electric bills to match are a fact of life in the desert.
Ratepayers report struggling to manage those bills during the sizzling summer months.
Warren Horton, a Cathedral City ratepayer, uses thick window screens to block daylight, monitors weather conditions and keeps his thermostat in the low 80s, but still received summer power bills exceeding $400.
“Well, I think it could be affordable if you earn a million dollars a year,” Horton said.
News Channel 3 went to work to try to find out why Californians face the second highest electricity rates in the country, only behind Hawaii.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) runs the wholesale energy markets that power the grid for the state's investor-owned utilities (IOUs).
Dede Subakti, Vice President of System Operations at CAISO, explains, "We're like an air traffic controller, right?”
He explains that managing the state energy portfolio requires extensive coordination.
“I've seen a lot of growth in the coordination in both in the planning to make sure that we have the right mix and the right portfolio of resources being built in in California ISOs and being able to coordinate on the day-to-day operations for the day-ahead planning, as well as the real-time operation itself,” Subakti said.
Grid management relies on renewable generation and large-scale battery systems to maintain grid stability.
Overall, it's working to increase supply and stabilize wholesale energy prices.
Wholesale electricity prices in California are often recorded between $.03 and $.07 a kilowatt hour(kwh).
In the desert, ratepayers, depending on their billing plan with SCE often pay much higher.
The "on-peak" rate for some ratepayers, at $.29, can reflect a mark-up for power generation of 800% or more.
News Channel 3 is working to get answers on that mark-up and the other side of the bill; delivery charges.
And that's where "Power Struggle: Part Two" will pick-up, Thursday October 8th at 6:00 pm.
