In light of increased demand due to a massive heatwave, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued an order on September 6, 2020 allowing the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to dispatch up to 100 MW of additional generation from three plants in the Los Angeles region, if needed, to meet demand through September 13, 2020 between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. each day.[1] On September 5, 2020, the CAISO issued a Stage 2 emergency[2] after fires took out around 1,600 MW of resources. Another emergency was declared on September 6, 2020 after 260 MW of generation tripped offline and an additional 900 MW of capacity was lost.

The rising demand prompted CAISO to instruct all the generators in its footprint to ramp up to maximum production capacity during specific times of the day. However, the operator of the three natural gas facilities — the El Segundo Energy Center, Walnut Creek Energy Park and Long Beach Generating Station — informed CAISO that it could not hit maximum capability without going above federal air quality. In light of this, CAISO requested that the DOE allow for leeway on environmental and air quality permit limitations for the plants. While the DOE granted this in its order on September 6, 2020, CAISO will have to submit a report to the DOE detailing when the facilities were operated and the estimated emissions that resulted.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/09/f78/CAISO%20202c%20Order_1.pdf

[2] Requires ISO intervention in the market, such as ordering power plants online