CA Turns To Natural Gas To Avoid Outages During Record Heat Wave

CALIFORNIA — Despite California's goals to move away from a dependence on oil and gas, record temperatures this week have forced officials to turn back to natural gas to keep the lights on for residents, who continue to face the threat of widespread outages as energy demand heightens.

The Western heat wave that arrived in the state last week has been hotter and lingered longer in California than in any other state. Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with residents to use less power to avoid rolling blackouts — a measure that involves cutting power to some communities intermittently, to keep the lights on for the rest of the state.

A text message sent by the state's Office of Emergency Services may have helped the state avoid rolling blackouts Tuesday, but meeting the state's energy demand has also required activating generators fueled by natural gas. After a weekend of scorching temperatures, officials required the temporary activation of the generators on Monday evening.

“DWR has been planning for this moment for months and we’re proud of our role in safeguarding the statewide energy grid. We are doing everything possible to help keep the lights on and the air conditioning running so millions of Californians can stay safe and healthy during this extreme heat event,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the state's Department of Water Resources.

The four generators are capable of providing up to 120 megawatts of electricity to the state wooer grid during extreme heat events — enough to power up to 120,000 homes.

It is the first time the generators were activated since they were installed last year.

Newsom, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said the “pretty extreme" circumstances required the state to turn to more natural gas as a backup supply.

“We all want to accelerate the elimination of the gas, but it's a sober reminder of reality," he said.

The state also plans to rely on some diesel powered generators this week to pad the power supply.

But some of the state's fossil-fuel plants have their own reliability problems. Several power plants, including aging gas-fired ones along California's coast, partially broke down or produced less energy than planned, according to the ISO.

Four of the plants, which suck up ocean water to cool down their equipment, were slated to close in 2020, but the state has continually extended their lives to help stabilize the power supply. They now plan to stay open until at least 2023, but they could last even longer under legislation Newsom signed in June.

On Tuesday, the grid operator declared its highest level of emergency and warned that rolling blackouts were imminent for swaths of communities as peak energy demand on Tuesday surpassed 52,000 megawatts — far above the previous high of 50,270 megawatts set on July 24, 2006, authorities said.

READ MORE: How CA Avoided Mass Blackouts Amid Historic Heatwave

And demand is only expected to climb in the future. The state is mandated to get all of its electricity from non-carbon or renewable sources by 2045, which will push demand up to 78,000 megawatts. To meet that demand, both the state government and major utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric are working to ramp up renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

Newsom just signed legislation aimed at keeping the state's last nuclear plant open for five years beyond its planned 2025 closure, and he suggested Wednesday that the plant could run even longer if needed.

The sun is typically the state's biggest power source during the day. But as the hot weather arrived, natural gas surpassed renewables for more time over the past week, according to the California Independent System Operator, which is responsible for managing and maintaining reliability on the state's power grid.

Gas was the primary energy source all day on Tuesday — the expected peak of the brutal temperatures.

What's more, Californians were asked to avoid charging electric vehicles this week, just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state would ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035.

During the heat wave, officials urged people not to charge cars or use other large appliances at night. The state has not banned car charging, but instead urged people to do so during the day.

“Gavin Newsom — You have to buy an electric car. Also Gavin Newsom — But you can’t charge it," Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez tweeted Tuesday evening after the state sent out an emergency wireless alert urging people to reduce power use.

Another Flex Alert was issued Wednesday as the swelter persisted. Residents will be asked to reduce power yet again between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. as the state hopes to avoid leaving communities in darkness during the heat wave.

The alert was extended for the eighth consecutive day Wednesday, urging residents to take the following power-saving steps:

• setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher
• avoiding use of major appliances
• turning off unnecessary lights
• avoid charging electric vehicles

Residents were also advised to pre-cool their homes as much as possible and close blinds and drapes to keep interiors cool.

The state's record heat wave was on track to be the hottest and longest in California for September ever while peak summer heat for the state is normally in July and August, emergency officials reported.

READ MORE: Californians Asked Not To Charge EVs Days After Gas Car Ban Announced

California’s state capital of Sacramento hit an all-time high Tuesday of 116 degrees, breaking a 97-year-old record. Other records were set or tied in Northern California:

• Livermore, 116 degrees (tied a record set Monday)
• King City, 116 degrees (broke 2017 record)
• Santa Rosa, 115 degrees (broke 1913 record)
• Napa, 114 degrees (broke 1961 record)
• Redwood City, 110 degrees (broke 1972 record)
• San Jose, 109 degrees (broke 2017 record)

Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in state history.

A wildfire that started Friday in the Northern California community of Weed killed two people and one that erupted Monday and spread rapidly in the Hemet area of Southern California also killed two people. Authorities said they apparently died while trying to flee the flames.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.