California Grid Operator Says It's Avoided Ordering Rolling Outages Despite Record Demand

By Madison Hirneisen | The Center Square, The Center Square California

14 hrs ago

(The Center Square) – California’s grid operators say they narrowly avoided ordering rotating power outages Tuesday night despite the state reaching a new record for power grid peak demand.

With temperatures stretching to over 100 degrees in several parts of the state, Californians were urged to conserve electricity between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday to reduce stress on the state’s power grid. The California Independent System Operator issued a level three Energy Emergency Alert just before 6 p.m. Tuesday, warning Californians that they were one step closer to issuing rotating power outages.

Cal ISO ended the level three Emergency Energy Alert at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, saying there would be no “load sheds” for the night.

“Consumer conservation played a big part in protecting electric grid reliability,” Cal ISO tweeted just after 8 p.m.

However, the Los Angeles Times reported that the city of Healdsburg was directed by the state grid operator to begin rolling outages in Sonoma County. Cal ISO could not be immediately reached to confirm.

Other power suppliers commenced at least an hour of rolling blackouts, despite Cal ISO saying there were no “load sheds” for the night. Alameda Municipal Power had initially announced rolling blackouts but called off the second hour around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Still, thousands of residents across the state were without power Tuesday night as a result of the heat wave, according to an outage map from Pacific Gas & Electric. "Late afternoon Tuesday, around 4,200 Pacific Gas & Electric customers lost power in the afternoon Tuesday," according to the Fresno Bee.

California reached a new record for peak demand of 52,061 megawatts shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday. The previous record was set in 2006 when the peak reached 50,270 megawatts.

The ongoing heatwave – which Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday is the longest and hottest on record in September – brought record-high temperatures over 100 degrees in several parts of the state. The National Weather Service in Sacramento announced Downtown Sacramento reached 116 degrees Tuesday, surpassing the record-high temperature of 114 degrees set in July 1925.

The last time the state saw planned outages was in August 2020, when about 800,000 homes lost power for between 15 minutes and 2.5 hours, according to Cal ISO. That marked the first time in 20 years that outages were ordered due to insufficient electricity supplies.

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