California weathers heat wave without rolling blackouts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ADAM BEAM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A brutal Western heat wave brought California to the verge of ordering rolling blackouts but the state’s electrical grid managed to handle record-breaking demand.

The state’s 39 million people were warned Tuesday that demand — some of it from people cranking up the air conditioning — might outstrip supply as temperatures in many areas soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which oversees the electrical grid, issued a Stage 3 emergency power alert — one step below ordering utilities to start rotating outages to ease the strain on the system. The move allowed it to draw on emergency power sources.

Demand swelled in the late afternoon and into the evening, with everyone from Gov. Gavin Newsom to the state’s legal marijuana business control agency urging people to turn off lights and reduce power or use backup generators.

CAISO said the peak electricity demand on Tuesday hit 52,061 megawatts, far above the previous high of 50,270 megawatts set on July 24, 2006.



A man creates giant soap suds bubbles at dawn Monday, Sept. 5, on the Manhattan Beach Pier in Manhattan Beach, Calif., as a severe heat wave gripped the state. Most of California's 39 million people are facing sweltering weather. (AP Photo/John Antczak)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-california-gavin-newsom-heat-waves-ec7ce8cf0210573892cfb00fc2954d10

[Hekate]

1. KnR

[intrepidity]

2. 2am and still trying to cool down the house

no AC, just windows and fans, ugh

[quaint]

8. You were not alone.

[Nictuku]

10. I'm in the same boat

I'm in Northern Calif (Napa near Lake Berryessa)

Our HVAC needs Freon. It works, but is blowing warm air. It is so old (35+ years) that it only takes the illegal kind (22). I plan on replacing it (said it would be around 20K), but not until next year when I can get a reverse mortgage on the house. So for now, I bought a small room portable AC for my 80 year old mom's room. My room is on the ground floor and stays somewhat cooler.

Overnight, the low got down to 80. I was able to get it down to 81 downstairs. Upstairs was over a 100!!! INSIDE. Outside yesterday it got up to 114. The day before was 111.

Is it October yet? I hate summers any more. Between fire scares and water shortages, and now this. I just want to skip summers from now on.

I want this to be over! Where is the San Francisco Fog? We NEED you!

[Fresh_Start]

13. Next year inflation reduction act

allows for upto $8000 tax rebate if you replace bad/old hvac with heat pump.
We are looking at it because the $8 is a big offset from the $18K HVAC replacement cost for us

[Nictuku]

15. That is fantastic news!

I was hoping that I could get some kind of tax rebate for going solar (again, next year when I get the reverse mortgage). So I wonder if I can get more than one? (i.e. HVAC replacement as well as for the solar). I also have an old refrigerator I want to replace with something more energy efficient. I wonder if only one tax credit per year is allowed? If so, I may have to string out the improvements over a couple of years to get them.

[SunSeeker]

3. Newsom's administration was really proactive about getting people to conserve electricity this week.

Particularly during the crucial peak use hours 4-9 pm. I got lots of emails and even an Amber-alert style text message on my phone this morning warning to conserve between 4 and 9 pm. I listened!

[Auggie]

4. California was able to purchase electricity from other states ... a huge help

According to reports in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Never received an alert though. No blackout either. We hit 115° at 3 pm Tuesday, according to weather apps.

[Archae]

5. My oldest sister lives in northern California...

Last September I spent a week there visiting, it was cool, just plain nice weather.

All of this week she is looking at highs in the upper 90's to 100 or more.

Her electric bill is going to be really high this year.

[hunter]

6. We've burned a helluva lot of natural gas doing it.

Burning fossil fuels, is of course, what got us into this mess.

[YoshidaYui]

7. They TOLD us to turn off major appliances around 4pm

not sure why, but it saves power I guess.

[Igel]

16. Reduce peak load.

It's why in TX when we had an early, record-setting heatwave we were asked to not run major appliances between certain hours and increase our thermostats.

Reduced demand = less risk of overburdening the grid.

[ripcord]

9. Really bad optics

Not long after saying California announced it was going to ban ICE cars after 2035 they are telling people to save power and not charge their EVs.

[chowder66]

11. We are asked to conserve during particularly hot stretches. This isn't new.

We are asked this in other states as well. Newsom wants to extend the use of our remaining nuclear plant as we transition. He also knows that some people will not conserve but there are those of us that will. Every little bit helps most of the time.

Rolling brown/blackouts are not common but they are used when needed. If this occurs it's better to have a couple of hours without power than a whole day or even days.

[beaglelover]

12. They are asking you not to charge your car during peak hours, 4 pm to 9 pm.

My Tesla charges overnight when energy use is low. And by 2035, the infrastructure should be much better than it is today.

[Fresh_Start]

14. You schedule the charging for low usage time period

for example after 10PM when there isn't such a run on the grid.

[ripcord]

17. Not everyone works days and not all employers provide charging stations

You can say it doesn't look bad but when the current grid gets overwhelmed repeatedly during the heat, which is projected to get worse over time, it is easy to see why this would raise doubts in people's mind that 2035 is a legitimate target date.