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California’s Independent System Operator (ISO) said Sunday evening it needs California to save even more electricity than previously believed, as the worst of the current heat waves descends on the state on Monday and Tuesday.
ISO said energy demands Sunday were reaching record levels, and residents needed to lower electricity use in the afternoons and evenings to avoid outages.
“Starting tomorrow (Monday), this multi-day event is going to get much more intense,” said ISO President and CEO Elliot Mainzer, in a statement. “We are facing a load forecast of 48,817 megawatts and energy deficits between 2,000 and 4,000 megawatts for Monday, resulting in the highest likelihood of rotating outages we have seen so far this summer.”
“Because of the increasingly extreme conditions, we will need significant additional consumer demand reductions during the hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday and access to all the emergency tools that the state and utilities have established for an extreme event like this one,” Mainzer said. “We thank electricity consumers for their sustained effort to help us maintain reliability during these very difficult conditions.”
Sunday the ISO issued a statewide flex alert for the sixth straight day, calling for consumers to cut their electricity use Monday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Officials urged residents to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using major appliances, and turn off all unnecessary lights.
Sunday’s flex alert was in effect from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The extra hour of reduced energy use is needed Monday because of projected market deficiencies through 10 p.m. Additional calls for reducing energy consumption are expected as the state endures record-breaking temperatures lasting at least through Friday.
The heat wave is historic for both its temperatures and its duration. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are in place across the Western U.S., with daytime temperatures expected to be 10-20 degrees above normal.
State officials say electricity customers’ cutting demand has already resulted in an estimated 600 to 700-megawatt savings in recent days and are expected to be even more important and impactful through the next several days. Power grid conditions are expected to be strained Sunday evening, with a potential for supply shortfalls.
Monday and Tuesday are still projected to be the most challenging days yet, with the highest temperatures forecast on Tuesday and projected electricity demand of 50,099 megawatts (MW).
The peak load Saturday was 44,123 MW, and the forecast for Sunday is 45,776 MW. Grid operators are closely monitoring wildfires for potential threats to generators and transmission wires, and fire officials have warned that more fires could break out in the coming days, due to the prolonged high heat and dry conditions. Several generators are already out of service, making supplies tighter.
Consumers are also encouraged to pre-cool their homes and use major appliances before 4 p.m., when solar supplies are abundant. Cooling homes in advance minimizes discomfort during the Flex Alert and helps stabilize the grid.
For information on flex alerts, and to find more electricity conservation tips, visit FlexAlert.org.
“California’s Independent System Operator (ISO) said Sunday evening it needs California to save even more electricity than previously believed, as the worst of the current heat waves descends on the state on Monday and Tuesday.”
Elected officials need to reprioritize energy reliability/supply over “saving the planet”, “net zero”, or “carbon neutral”. Solar and wind are not reliable energy sources. Enough of the “we need you to conserve/save more” stuff when things don’t go as planned.
The worst is yet to come – as new requirements are imposed to mandate electrification of cars, new buildings, etc. I suspect that supply will not keep up with demand. Rather than admit poor planning/wrongdoing by getting rid of natural gas and nuclear power energy sources to “save the world” at the expense of businesses/residents, so called progressives will (drum roll please) double down on their usual, condescending responses – “do without”, “use less”, “install solar panels”, “winterize your home”, etc.
It’s great that you have acknowledge that there is a problem.
For the next couple of days, if you can, conserve some energy, it could prevent a problem or disaster for some unfortunate individuals.
We are becoming Europe. This is what happens when you fall prey at the hands of a cult idea. LOL. And they want to force us to buy electric cars.
Our “betters” at the federal, state and local level look forward to forcing everyone to purchase EVs. Then they’ll tell us not to power them up. Oh, that’s already happening, never mind.
By the way, for EV huggers, be sure to look at the staggering mining costs, environmental degradation and child slave labor involved in sourcing EV batteries.
I’m doing my part to help with the electricity shortage by happily driving my gasoline powered car.
This latest situation is highlighting our future problems with going 100% EV. The Air Resources Board is declaring this new requirement and I believe I heard the state legislature is making it law. The problem is these are non-technical people that have no plans to transition our “supply” to meet the EV goal.
Until I see a detailed plan that shows how the state will actually transition to non-carbon based energy, I plan on continuing to drive a gas powered car. I will consider a hybrid (non-plug in) for my next car purchase.
I have taken other actions to reduce my carbon footprint, for example switching to LED lights, keeping the AC set at 80, heat at 68 or lower, reduced car trips by combining errands, etc.