California Hit with Rolling Blackouts, and It Looks Like the Pain Is Just Beginning
Rolling blackouts struck California on Friday as a major heatwave caused a huge demand for electricity to cool off homes.
As many as a quarter of a million customers were impacted by Pacific Gas and Electric alone, according to the company statement. Outages impacted communities across the state.
The statement said the utility “was directed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to turn off power to about 200,000 to 250,000 customers at a time in rotating power outages given the strain on the power grid during the statewide heatwave.”
“Other power utilities in the state are being directed to take similar actions. The power will be turned off in rotating blocks until about 11 p.m. Power could be out for about one hour for each block,” they added.
If there’s a “rolling blackout” in California, blame the Democrat politicians. Their 60+ years of virtual control in Sacramento should have given us a cheap, stable supply of electricity. “Severe heat wave causes rolling blackouts … across California” https://t.co/JxqzQIihnW pic.twitter.com/MSg2VJR4gH
— SaveCalifornia.com (@savecalifornia) August 15, 2020
Spokeswoman Anne Gonzales said grid managers were “shedding” about 500 megawatts of power, according to The Sacramento Bee.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory through Wednesday, warning that temperatures in some non-desert parts of Southern California could hit 108 degrees.
Update: California heatwave now expected to be much more intense, prolonged, and dangerous than initially anticipated. (Hence, the new blog post.) This one reminds me of July 2006 in many ways… #CAwx #CAfirehttps://t.co/UHzYO7Mjhe
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) August 14, 2020
The emergency action was the largest power interruption since last October, when PG&E instituted blackouts due to high winds and fears that downed lines could spark fires, The Sacramento Bee reported.
“We’ve been preparing for this for two days,” Gonzales said. “We’re 10 to 20 degrees above normal. This is all heat driven.”
It was 105 degrees in Sacramento on Friday evening.
Officials were asking the public to conserve.
All Californians can help prevent further emergency measures by conserving power in their homes while their is high demand on shared our energy supply. #FlexAlert
— Cal OES (@Cal_OES) August 15, 2020
Heatwaves not only strain the power grid, but they can also kill.
During a 2006 heatwave, Los Angeles County recorded its all-time highest temperature: 119 degrees on July 22, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Last July, it also was recorded that “coroners in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Kern counties connected about 130 deaths to the heat, with diagnoses including hyperthermia and heatstroke.”
Between 350 and 450 people in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Kern counties died from causes connected to the heat during that time.
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