2001-06-19 - 1:26 p.m.
Now that summer�s here, one of the first things I do every morning is go to the California Independent System Operator�s web site to see if he, or she, or it (I�m not clear on what the ISO is, exactly--if it�s a person, or a thing, or an autonomous collective) is planning to shut my power off today.
Since the state�s power crisis began over a year ago (remember, San Diego�s had problems since last spring when our electric bills started to skyrocket--everyone forgets that, though, since no one else gave a shit at the time and continued to tell themselves that utility deregulation was a real swell idea with just a few bugs that needed fixing, sort of like Windoze), I�ve gone from being pissed off to simply being amused by it all. I can afford to laugh about it--I don�t have or need an air conditioner, I save my work constantly, my life doesn�t depend on continuously flowing electricity, and I�m not running for reelection in less than two years. (As an aside, it appears that the state�s dwindling number of Republican lawmakers have finally managed to get it through Dubya�s thick Texas skull that taking an attitude of, "Fuck California--they didn�t vote for me anyway," isn�t going to keep the GOP from losing the House in 2002.)
Basically, the only two things I have to worry about are (1) getting stuck in an elevator, and (2) getting my legs broken by SDG&E�s collections people when that big balloon payment comes due in a couple of years (though SDG&E and the governor are now assuring us that won�t happen). Add in the fact that, like all Californians, I�m secretly in love with my crises--they give us all something to talk to our therapists and/or write screenplays about--and well, I�m tickled silly these days.
But back to the ISO website. It�s pretty straightforward for the most part, with lots of pretty charts and graphs like this one. The maroon line is the amount of power we have. The blood-red line is the current demand for power. So long as the red stays below the maroon, we�re ok. If the red comes too close to the maroon, the rolling blackouts start. If the maroon dips below the red, we start rounding up illegal immigrants and putting them on treadmills at gunpoint to generate more power. All very simple to understand
Then, however, there�s "No Touch Day." What the hell is "No Touch Day"? It appears to have something to do with power plant maintenance, but jeez--it sounds like some kind of molestation-awareness thing at elementary school. Do we get Good Touch Day and Bad Touch Day as well?
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