To meet rising demand for power, new plants have been built, in some cases further straining the transmission system.
The only thing that will ease the situation is to fix the transmission system, and that's in the works".
C1 State Buying Power Lines California agreed to buy the transmission system of Southern California Edison for nearly $2.8 billion.
Another is that the transmission system had to be completely redesigned.
Such measures can relieve pressure on generating stations and transmission lines, but require reliable integration with the transmission system, the report said.
Evangelos Lekatsas, chairman of the transmission system operators, did not exude confidence when discussing the likelihood of a blackout during the peak-consumption Olympics in mid-August.
Because withstanding such natural events puts a strain on the transmission system, regulators want to make sure it is appropriately maintained, Mr. Rowe said.
"The transmission system is being used closer to its limits more of the time than at any time in the past," Mr. Sergel said.
Crews were working in the building and at substations to make sure that as power became available, the transmission system was ready to handle it, he said.
In reality, the transmission system limits the ability to do that, especially when it comes to pushing power into and out of some major urban areas.
"The effort would have been far better spent on a bill that simply took over the transmission system without locking California into buying power at unconscionably high prices, when prices are bound to decline in later years".
