- A searing heat wave across California has seen temps reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit in Los Angeles.
- On Monday, California's power grid operator warned of the potential for rolling blackouts, Bloomberg reported.
Soaring, record-high temperatures across much of California led the operator of the state power grid to warn of blackouts Monday as residents push the electricity system to its limits.
Electricity usage in California is forecasted to reach levels last seen in 2017 as the state struggles with an unrelenting heat wave, and Tuesday could see record demand for power as schools and business re-open after the Labor Day holiday, Bloomberg's Brian K Sullivan and Mark Chediak reported.
Speaking Monday at a media briefing, Elliot Mainzer, the chief executive of California's power grid manager, the California Independent System Operator, said that "rotating outages are a possibility today," according to the Bloomberg report. At the briefing, Mainzer said that the outages would be a last resort, and that the state could also declare a level-2 emergency which would also serve to free up energy supply, Bloomberg reported.
In a statement posted to YouTube Monday, Mainzer added that California's energy deficit is as much as 10% of their normal electricity demand. "In fact, we need two to three times as much conservation as we've been experiencing to keep the power on with these historically high temperatures and demand," Mainzer said.
On Monday, California issued a "Flex Alert," through which residents are asked to conserve energy usage by refraining from using major appliances, setting thermostats higher, and turning off lights during peak evening hours, for the sixth consecutive day.
Escalating temperatures have been felt across much of California. In Sacramento, the state's capital, the thermometer could reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday. In Los Angeles, the temperature touched 103 degrees on Sunday, the US Weather Prediction Center's Bob Oravec told Bloomberg.
Last Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of the emergency ahead of the heat wave that has since gripped the state. At the time, Newsom said that California's transition to renewable energy has added 4,000 megawatts of power to the state's grid, but that hydroelectric power generation has been made more difficult by the state's ongoing drought.
California's heat wave has been complicated by another persistent issue, as well. Wildfires near Los Angeles and San Diego pose a danger to the power lines that carry electricity to consumers. But according to Mainzer, no major failures have yet been reported as of Sunday, Bloomberg reported.