Heat Wave: California Declares Statewide Grid Emergency and Warns of Blackouts Amid Scorching Temperatures

A grid emergency has been issued by local authorities for California to cope with the risk of rolling blackouts and increasing demand for power supply. The power grid emergency declaration was made after the California Independent System Operator issued a "level-1 energy emergency alert" at 3:10 p.m. local time on Wednesday, August 31, amid a massive heat wave in the Western United States.

The utility operator reportedly tapped on all the available power supplies running in the state. California officials asked both homes and businesses to conserve electricity as power shortages are expected in the coming hours and days. The threat of rolling blackouts is of primary concern as soaring temperatures due to the heat dome is putting power grids on the line, as was previously predicted.

Prior the US summer season, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in May issued a summer blackout warning, highlighting the imminent impact of extreme heat or hot temperatures during the said season this year. The warning mainly hinted the potential damage of the 2022 summer to power grid systems across the country, as well as the spike in demand for electricity.

Other cases have been reported in the US aside from California. In July, triple digit temperatures and high humidity from a heat wave strained the power grid of Texas. The infrastructural disruption forced Texas officials to urge Texans to conserve energy to cope with electricity demand. The Texas heat wave two months ago occurred when an extreme heat wave struck the southwestern and central US regions.

California Grid Emergency

California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency concerning the risk brought by the heat wave to the state's power grid system. The aim of the emergency declaration it to temporarily increase energy production and reduce demand, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.

In addition, the California Independent System Operator are asking Californians to reduce their power consumption between 4:00 p.m. and 9 p.m. to mitigate the risk of outages.

The California governor's office adds that Gov. Newsom made the announcement in response to the forecast that The Golden State and the Western US will experience extreme heat from Wednesday, straining the grid with increased energy demands.

California Heat Wave

During a news conference on Wednesday, Newsom acknowledge the reality that we are living in an age of extreme heat and extreme drought, as cited by Bloomberg.

In addition to the mentioned objective of the grid emergency, Newsom's order will temporarily loosen environmental regulations on "gas-burning power plants" and allow them to run full-tilt in the duration of the heat wave. The governor reportedly said it could last for a week.

The National Weather Service (NWS) calls the ongoing extreme weather as a "dangerous and sweltering heat" that will consume most parts of the Western US, especially California, throughout the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

With this, the NWS has issued widespread excessive heat warnings and heat watches for multiple areas across the region.