FILE – In this Aug. 18, 2017, file photo, electrical power flow and conditions are monitored at the California Independent System Operator grid control center in Folsom, Calif. California energy leaders on Friday, May 6, 2022 said the state may see an energy shortfall this summer. Officials from the ISO, the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission said Californian’s should prepare to reduce their energy us in the after-work hours. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
California’s power grid remained under assault Wednesday from a state-wide heat wave that has now persisted for more than a week.
On Wednesday, the state’s Independent System Operator issued a Flex Alert for the eighth consecutive day. The alert will be in effect from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and evening. Flex Alerts ask people to conserve energy in order to avoid rolling blackouts.
The ISO said the state’s energy supply ran so low Tuesday that they issued an Energy Emergency Alert at 5:17 p.m. and utilities began to put an emergency plan into place. They said customers in the state were expected to use more than 52,000 megawatts on Tuesday, an all-time high for the grid.
Widespread rolling blackouts were not instituted by Cal ISO on Tuesday, but customers of municipal utilities in Palo Alto and Alameda lost power on Tuesday evening.
Officials did not say early Wednesday whether the demand Wednesday was expected to be as high. Rolling blackouts remained a possibility, according to the ISO.
The heat wave also extended a Spare the Air Alert into a fifth straight day, signaling that ozone pollution remained high. Air quality in some Bay Area regions were expected to be unhealthy for those with respiratory issues.
Originally published at Rick Hurd