SACRAMENTO – With California experiencing an unprecedented heat storm and wildfires that caused power grid system failures, the state is moving aggressively to reduce the gap between supply and demand, while California energy agencies call on individuals and businesses to “flex their power” by conserving energy, heat storms will worsen with the National Weather Service predicting more record-breaking heat, and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) predicting electric energy demand nearing state records.
California and the Newsom Administration are working aggressively to free up energy capacity to meet the demands of this heat storm event. On Thursday night, Governor Newsom issued an emergency proclamation suspending regulations in order to create more energy supply and reduce demand on the grid. Other actions the state has taken include:
- Working with large commercial and public energy consumers to shift their energy usage away from peak hours
- Ramping up appeals to Californians to flex their power, pre-cool their homes before noon and conserve energy from 3 p.m. onwards
- Partnering with third party energy producers to bring back-up energy generation resources online – from the State Water Project to LADWP and the state’s investor-owned utilities
- Asking the Navy and commercial ports to use on-ship electrical generation instead of pulling resources away from the grid
Even with these efforts, given the extreme heat storm, Californians may experience rolling energy blackouts if users do not conserve enough energy to lower the demand on California’s power grid. These outages were avoided Friday and Saturday due in large part to individual conservation efforts, but even more conservation efforts are needed today. On Saturday, the Creek Fire in Madera County forced the closure of a 915 megawatt hydropower station, further constraining grid resources.
“California has always been the canary in the coal mine for climate change, and this weekend’s events only underscore that reality,” said Governor Newsom. “Wildfires have caused system failures, while near record energy demand is predicted as a multi-state heat wave hits the West Coast for the second time in a matter of weeks. Californians are rising to the occasion to meet these unprecedented challenges for our energy grid, and I want to thank all of the businesses and individuals who are conserving energy. Californians should heed CAISO’s warnings and flex their power to shift energy consumption to earlier in the day today, and protect against predicted shortages.”
Last month, Governor Newsom called for an investigation into state power shortages caused by summer heat events.
CAISO highlighted three simple actions individuals and businesses can take to reduce energy consumption:
- “Pre-cooling” homes in the morning, and then setting A/C thermostats to 78 degrees or higher between 3 to 10 p.m.
- Refrain from major appliance use between 3 and 10 p.m.
- Turn off unnecessary lights and appliances
