(Bloomberg) – California grid operators said they expect to order a rotating blackout on Saturday as electricity reserves fell below critical levels during a record-breaking heat wave.
The state’s grid operator declared a stage-to-grid emergency one step away from the blackout order shortly before 6 p.m., local time. Wildfires caused generators and solar farms to fly offline, the California Independent System Operator, which operates most of the state’s grid, said on Twitter.
With Los Angeles, temperatures across the state are expected to reach a high of 109 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Three weeks ago when the light people were plunged into darkness, the extreme heat pushed the demand for electricity even more intensely. In the first rolling outage since the 2001 energy crisis.
The temperature is even higher than what was seen in August, said Jim Rowler, a meteorologist with the Raja Meteorological Group. “More than 100 high temperature records to the west are at stake.”
The ISO issued a statewide grid warning for Sunday from 4pm to 9pm, warning that it would not have adequate storage of electricity. Grid operator operators have a top demand of 49 gigawatts on Sunday, g 49.aw gigawatts, when the ISO asked for a rotation outage.
“If the forecast comes true, Sunday will be the busiest day of the summer,” said Brian Bartholomew, a BloombergNF analyst.
Electricity prices reached $ 800 per megawatt for delivery Saturday evening in Southern California, according to data from the grid operator operator. It is a sign of tightening supply as solar production taps are off.
California Governor Gavin News has signed an emergency order to release additional power supplies on Thursday.
Cold degree days – used to estimate energy demand – are forecast to reach record highs this weekend, according to BloombergNF analyst Jade Patterson. If that happens, electricity consumption could break the heat wave last month that sent natural gas prices down to 13 13.27 per million British thermal units.
Many heat records to date could fall in California, Arizona and Nevada over the weekend, starting at its worst on Tuesday and Wednesday, with U.S. “Cold winds are coming from Canada,” said Shrich Otto, a forecaster with the Weather Prediction Center. Auto said it would break most of the heat in the western U.S. but bring winds with it that could increase the risk of wildfires.
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