As electricity goes, it's the most important time of year, and San Onofre is offline. Think of power lines as freeways, only the cars can slow down during a traffic jam. Electricity can't.
"Unlike the backup on the freeway, it is not possible to slow," says Professor Sadrul Ula of UC Riverside. "Either the system will get electricity or the system will overload and trip."
According to Edison spokesman Scott Andresen, California ISO’s plan for replacing San Onofre's power output of 2,200 megawatts is to use two gas generators in Huntington Beach. They produce 440 megawatts.
"The electricity is coming from the Pacific Northwest on this high voltage power line," he says, pointing to a map of the West Coast.
The map shows the few aging power lines that will bring electricity to the Inland Empire during a blazing Summer. Edison has already spent significant dollars to fill the gap left by the loss of San Onofre.
"Those costs so far have totaled 30 million dollars in energy we've had to buy from other sources," says Edison's Jennifer Manfre.
The cost could be passed on to Edison customers if approved by the Public Utilities Commission. Another hurdle is the power grid, which is 40 years old.
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Edison's San Onofre plan leaves them with a power deficit. They hope to fill the gap by encouraging conservation. If not, it could be a very hot summer, because San Onofre looks like it's headed for a long summer vacation.
Correction: a previous version of this article indicated that energy costs totaled $30 billion.
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