Southern California spared from rolling blackouts; power grid demand reaches record high
Southern California was spared from any rolling blackouts despite the power grid reaching a record-high demand.
The power grid demand hit an all-time high of 52,061 megawatts surpassing a near two-decade-old record of 50,270 megawatts.
About an hour after reaching the record high, the California Independent System Operator ended the Energy Emergency Alert 3 at about 8 p.m. The alert called for all energy resources to be redirected to the state's power grid to meet the increased demand for electricity. The state's grid operator raised the level three times on Tuesday.
In a tweet, the ISO thanked residents for conserving energy which ultimately helped avoid rolling blackouts.
"Consumer conservation played a big part in protecting electric grid reliability. Thank you, California!" tweeted California ISO.
The record-breaking heat has strained the state's power grid, as many try to escape the heat by blasting their air conditioning units. The stress on the grid only increases when the sun goes down as solar power reserves wane. The potential rolling blackouts prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to plead with Californians to conserve energy.
"We're heading into the worst part of this heatwave," he said.. "And this risk of outages is real and it's immediate. These triple-digit temperatures, throughout much of the state, are leading, not surprisingly, to record demand on the energy grid."
California's power grid is complicated, but when it fails there is inevitable political fallout.
"I don't know that there's going to be any excessive political fallout," said GOP consultant Matt Rexroad. "But I will say incumbents tend to get blamed. When there's no water like in Jackson, Miss. or Flint, MI., people blame incumbent office holders when utilities fail."
However, as Professor of Politics Fernando Guerra points about, private utilities are hit hardest by rolling blackouts, while public companies are typically spared.
"The interesting thing is people say, 'Hey government, you should act like the private sector," he said. "But that's definitely not the case in the energy sector. We don't want [Department of Water and Power] to act like Edison or PG&E. Every time there is a blackout, DWP hardly ever gets affected. The bottom line is individuals have a confused understanding of who is responsible for providing energy."
After raising his national profile, political experts believe that Newsom will become the target of his new rivals such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if the power grid fails.
