State Power Grid Healthy

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 26, 2007 at 11:24 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The California power grid operator says the system is healthy. A performance scorecard shows the system delivered more power last year at less expense. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us officials say th

The California power grid operator says the system is healthy. A performance scorecard shows the system delivered more power last year at less expense. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us officials say the system is in good shape for summer when Californians use more power.

The California Independent System Operator says last year was its best ever for power grid operations. The not-for-profit agency is charged with managing the state's electricity grid to ensure a steady supply of power. Cal ISO President Yakout Mansour says it cost the system less money in 2006 to provide reliable power than it did in 2005.

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Mansour: We can tell you again that reliability was maintained at the highest level ever.

Mansour says powering the state's growing economy continues to challenge the system.

Mansour: This coming summer I can tell you that so far all indications is that we have enough additions that would balance the growth so we end up about the same situation as we had last year.

He says conservation and voluntary cutbacks in electricity use when needed are key strategies to maintain a steady supply of power. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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