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SDG&E preps for high power demand by adding ‘Top Gun energy storage’ facility

It's heating up, and SDG&E is preparing for increased power demand throughout the summer. San Diegans could experience "flex alerts" to avoid rolling blackouts.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Signaling the warning that whenever California sees extremely hot temperatures, we should be prepared for flex alerts unequivocally.

San Diegans just took part in the first flex alerts of the year on June 17 and June 18, and now, the California ISO, or Independent System Operator and SDG&E said customers could be called to conserve again and again.

“The customer conservation is probably it's going to be the single biggest variable of the summer between whether or not we are able to avoid rotating outages,” said Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator.

To avoid blackouts - in comes the Top Gun energy storage facility at SDG&E in Miramar next door to the Marine Corps Air Station that it’s named after.

“It takes four hours for the batteries to charge up, and then we can discharge them for another four hours," said Kelli Fitzgerald, the Top gun energy storage project manager.

There are 30 megawatts of lithium-ion batteries that can provide power to nearly 40,000 homes.

"We have 15,760 batteries that were actually individually loaded into every container. It took our contractor about 22 days to load all the batteries.” Fitzgerald said.

SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn comparing the massive energy storage to a portable phone charger when she held one up and said, "imagine building these battery storage facilities big scale for megawatts."

The extra resource is key with unprecedented climate change, extreme weather, and as the drought has greatly decreased Hydroelectricity production

“We still import about a quarter of our electricity from out of state, so when it gets simultaneously hot in the Pacific Northwest and in the desert southwest and the intermountain west, The amount of power available to California for imports can get stressed,” Mainzer said.

In addition to the Top Gun battery supply SDG&E said it has extra reserves, added more power sources in Kearny Mesa and Fallbrook and is paying customers to cut back on energy when the grid is stressed.

“Taking all the clean energy that is coming from the sun and the wind and to be able to store that electricity and use it when the sun stops shining,” Winn said.

These changes happen as California slowly decarbonizes and transitions off of on natural gas and big generator facilities

“We are trying to do everything in our power to make sure the lights stay on for our customers and that the air conditioning stays on for our customers,” Winn said.

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