Daily Democrat (Woodland)

State is urged to conserve power

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California residents were asked to voluntaril­y conserve power again on Friday as the heat wave that is baking the U.S. West strained the state’s energy grid and raised the possibilit­y of rotating outages.

As temperatur­es spiked on Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an emergency proclamati­on that suspended certain permitting requiremen­ts — allowing power plants to ramp up operations if necessary to meet the demand for electricit­y. The proclamati­on cited the “extreme heat peril” facing the state this week.

The California Independen­t System Operator, which runs the state’s energy grid, issued a Flex Alert for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.

During those hours, people were urged to set their thermostat­s to 78 degrees or higher and to avoid using washers, dishwasher­s and other major appliances. An alert was also in place Thursday evening.

Pacific Gas & Electric said rotating power outages were possible for about 121,000 Northern California customers Thursday night but that step did not need to be taken because the power supply proved adequate.

During an intense Western heat wave last August, the state had two days of rotating outages that affected more than 200,000 people. They were the first such blackouts since 2001.

Power officials said the electrical grid has had upgrades since then, including transmissi­on improvemen­ts and adding four times the amount of power stored in lithium-ion batteries. Boosting the 500 megawatts worth of battery storage currently to 2,000 megawatts by August could be crucial when solar power generation tails off after dark.

In all, about 3,500 megawatts of capacity will be added to the grid — enough to power some 2.6 million homes.

Interior areas of the state broiled Thursday. Tripledigi­t high temperatur­es were recorded in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and the deserts. Death Valley reached 128 degrees (53.3 Celsius) and Palm Springs tied the all-time record of 123 degrees (50.5 Celsius).

The temperatur­es were much cooler in the state’s coastal areas.

The heat wave was expected to continue into the weekend, with worst of the torrid conditions affecting California’s interior regions.

The heat was blamed on a dome of high pressure that has covered the U.S. West.

The heat wave came amid a drought that has dried up vegetation and increased fire danger. There have been a number of small wildfires around California this week but the state has avoided the fierce gusts that drove last year’s devastatin­g blazes.

 ?? RICHARD VOGEL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? A worker fixes a street lamp in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Thursday.
RICHARD VOGEL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A worker fixes a street lamp in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Thursday.

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