The September heatwave pushed Burbank temperatures to well above 100 degrees for five straight days, were there many outages?
For five days from September 4 through September 9, Burbank experienced temperatures well above 100 degrees. For many electric utilities, extreme heat regularly results in outages, but in Burbank, uninterrupted electricity was delivered to over 53,000 customers. Only 368 customers (0.7% of all customers) experienced an outage, with an average outage time of less than one hour. On 9/5/24, we hit a high of 115 degrees with a peak load of 305 megawatts (MW). On 9/6/24, we hit a high of 113 degrees and hit our second all-time peak load of 311 MW.
How is BWP able to provide such high reliability when neighboring cities experienced outages lasting over a day?
BWP has some of the finest professionals in the industry, but most importantly, they deeply care about the community and are always thinking about how to ensure quality service. With extreme and erratic heat now the norm, our engineers and operators focus on evaluating our system’s resilience and our field crews keep busy replacing aging infrastructure. This work is one of the reasons why BWP has earned repeat Diamond level Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)®, a designation by the American Public Power Association (APPA) recognizing our commitment to providing reliable and safe electric service. BWP’s Diamond level designation is granted to only 4% of municipal utilities in America (there are over 2,000 public utilities in the US).
Burbank is fortunate to have the Magnolia Power Plant (MPP) delivering electricity directly into the city. If you live in Burbank, you have seen the steam coming out of MPP as it generates electricity for our city. This is not the case for many other cities in Southern California, who wheel in electricity from over 300 miles away. MPP is one of the most efficient combined cycle power plants in the nation, emitting record-low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and delivering electricity on the hottest days, 24/7.
Our long-term energy plan, the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), takes into consideration changing weather patterns and reducing GHG emissions. As we phase out GHG-emitting power sources we must acquire transmission rights to bring in renewable energy, and invest in creative ways to generate clean energy locally.
What we have today is thanks to the foresight of prior BWP employees who have kept their focus on our mission statement – Safely providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable utility services for our community. It is a privilege to serve as your General Manager and lead this fine utility. If you have any additional questions, please keep an eye out on BWP’s social media; I am hosting community office hours every month, I look forward to staying connected and answering more of your questions.
