Conservation may be needed to avoid any blackouts
In the first sign this year that California’s power grid could strain again to keep the lights on during extreme heat waves, the state’s grid operator on Tuesday afternoon said residents may be asked to reduce their electricity use this week to avert rolling blackouts.
The California Independent System Operator, a non-profit corporation that runs the state’s power grid, predicted it would have enough electricity supply to meet demand and avert outages.
But it will be close, ISO officials said. And if there are disruptions — a wildfire that burns transmission lines, mechanical failure at one or more power plants, or other unexpected problems
— they might need to call the first “Flex Alert” of the year and ask people to voluntarily cut electricity use from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, said Anne Gonzales, an ISO spokeswoman.
“We don’t expect rotating outages this week,” Gonzales said. “But we are going to see some tight supplies. Our main message is one of conservation.”
The ISO also ordered power plant operators across the state to defer scheduled maintenance on power plants and transmission lines Tuesday through Friday to keep as much electricity flowing as possible.
An unrelenting heat wave is forecast to bake much of California and the American West all week, with temperatures forecast to hit 110 on Thursday in Sacramento and the Central Valley, and 115 or more in Palm Springs and other parts of Southern California.
Last August, California experienced rolling blackouts over two days, affecting hundreds of thousands of people for several hours. They were the first in 19 years, since blackouts in 2001 contributed to the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis.
During extreme heat waves, air conditioning use soars, leading to spikes in demand. In recent years, California has generated an increasing amount of its electricity from solar power. And if heat waves continue into the early evening when the sun begins to set, the state’s grid can be strained, a report after last year’s blackouts concluded. Often power can be purchased from other states. But when there are broad heat waves across the West — as has been happening due to climate change — there isn’t much extra electricity for sale. Add to that — a severe drought means less hydropower from dams.
On Tuesday, PG&E said it had no plans to shut off electricity to reduce the risk of wildfire from Tuesday through next Wednesday, June 21. Such planned outages, called “public safety power shutoffs,” are employed by utilities when conditions are dry and extremely windy, increasing the risk of trees blowing into power lines and sparking huge fires.
PG&E is using reports and heat models from its weather experts to craft plans to respond to the torrid temperatures, said PG&E spokeswoman Mayra Tostado.
“We have our crews strategically located in those areas of high heat so we can respond to outages more quickly when they occur,” she said.
Crews will be on the lookout for possible transformer failures. Those units are the ones most likely to fail in extreme heat, she added.
If the ISO calls a Flex Alert on Thursday, Californians would be asked to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using major appliances and turn off unnecessary lights.