California grid issues emergency as blackout threat grows. PG&E says wildfire outages possible
The manager of California’s electricity grid issued a Stage 2 emergency alert Saturday evening — the last stop before rolling blackouts are imposed — as a heat wave rolled through the state and strained power supplies..
Separately, PG&E Corp. said deliberate blackouts for wildfire safety are possible next week, when fierce wind gusts are forecast.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the grid, issued the Stage 2 alert shortly before 6 p.m. as supplies started wearing thin. The ISO is trying to stave off a repeat of the two nights of rolling blackouts in mid-August. The Stage 2 alert means the ISO is directing utilities to implement power reductions for “interruptible” customers — those that agree to have power scaled back during crunch times, in exchange for discounted rates.
The increasing threat of blackouts came two days after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the Labor Day weekend heat storm. Newsom’s emergency proclamation allows power plants to generate more electricity “by suspending certain permitting requirements,” Newsom’s office said late Thursday. Among other things, Newsom directed the California Air Resources Board to “exercise maximum discretion to permit the use of stationary and portable generators or auxiliary ship engines to reduce the strain on the energy infrastructure and increase energy capacity during the Extreme Heat Event.”
Newsom’s order is similar to one he issued in mid-August, after California was hit with two nights of rolling blackouts as temperatures hit 110 degrees or higher in much of the state.
On Thursday, the California Independent System Operator, which manages the electricity grid, issued a voluntary call for energy conservation running from 3 p.m. Saturday to 9 p.m. Monday.
“We’ll need help,” said Eric Schmitt, vice president of operations at the ISO.
Power demands this weekend are expected to be slightly lower than the peak demands seen in mid-August. But Schmitt warned supplies are expected to be tight, in part because the heat wave is expected to engulf much of the West and California won’t be able to count on as much imported power as it usually enjoys.
The National Weather Service said temperatures could hit 110 degrees in parts of the Sacramento Valley on Sunday. The weather will cool only slightly on Labor Day.
Meanwhile, the weather service said the next few days will bring “critical fire weather conditions” next week as gusty winds are expected in parts of the state. PG&E issued a public safety blackout “watch” for Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s one level down from a blackout “warning.”
Last October PG&E imposed a series of public safety blackouts around broad sections of Northern California, infuriating Newsom and other public officials while the company was struggling to get out of bankruptcy. To make matters worse, a faulty PG&E transmission line was blamed for sparking the giant Kincade Fire in Sonoma County despite the blackouts.
Last month’s rotating outages — the first since the 2001 energy crisis — exposed problems in California’s power grid. The state has done away with many of its fossil fuel plants and now relies heavily on solar and wind power. Wind power can die down suddenly and solar power fades as the sun sets.
Newsom and other state leaders say California won’t retreat from its ambitious green-energy goals but must do a better job of managing the transition to renewable energy. State law says California must get 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045.
With grid reliability in mind, state regulators Tuesday allowed a group of high-polluting gas-fired plants in Southern California to remain in operation for up to three more years. They had been scheduled for closure Dec. 31.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 7:50 AM with the headline "California grid issues emergency as blackout threat grows. PG&E says wildfire outages possible."