Ron Brackett
Amid a blistering heat wave, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an emergency proclamation on Thursday that gives power plants more flexibility to respond to increased demand on the state's energy grid.
The proclamation allows the use of backup power generation and frees up additional energy capacity.
The dangerous heat gripping several states has prompted calls to conserve power.
For the second day in a row, the California Independent System Operator, which monitors the state's power grid, issued a Flex Alert for Friday. The alert asks people to conserve electricity by not using big appliances like dishwashers and washers and dryers during the evening hours. It also urges them to keep their air conditioners set at 78 degrees or higher.
"The statewide call for conservation is critical because when temperatures hit triple digits across a wide geographic area, no state has enough energy available to meet all the heightened demand, primarily due to air conditioning use," the agency said in a news release.
The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings for much of California. Several areas have seen record high temperatures above 100 and 110 degrees.
(MORE: Heat Dome to Set Records in the West Through Late Week)
The power agency said evening is the most difficult time of day for grid operations when temperatures are this high because demand remains high but electricity from solar energy declines when the sun goes down.
Also, because of climate change, lower nighttime temperatures that usually bring some relief from the scorching heat of the day are disappearing.
"Nationwide, unusually hot summer days (highs) have become more common over the last few decades," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The occurrence of unusually hot summer nights (lows) has increased at an even faster rate. This trend indicates less 'cooling off' at night."
It's not just power grids threatened by higher nighttime temperatures.
Without relief from the heat at night, people can see their heat stress continue to build. That increases the risk of heat illnesses and death, weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles explained. Some indicators even point to nights being more deadly than the daytime during a heat wave.
(MORE: Dangerously Hot Pavement Can Cause Severe Burns During Heat Wave, Doctors Warn)
California's power grid manager said it expects conservation measures to be enough to get through this current heat wave. However, if demand still outstrips supply after the Flex Alert and other measures are taken, ISO could order utilities to begin rotating power outages.
During a heat wave last August, rolling blackouts across California left more than 350,000 customers without power in the evening hours. They were the first such blackouts since 2001.
Earlier this week, Texas' main power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), asked the state's residents to conserve power to avoid blackouts during the heat wave.
The request comes just four months after blackouts during the deadly Winter Storm Uri left millions of homes and businesses without electricity.
Texas currently has several generating plants down for repairs. The number of generators offline is triple what officials expect for this time of year, according to Bloomberg.
“This is very concerning,” Warren Lasher, a senior director for ERCOT, said during a briefing. “It’s not clear why we are seeing so many units offline.”
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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