SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Californians packed beaches, lakes and recreational areas Sunday in search of relief from a record heat wave that stretched the power grid and threatened to trigger a third round of rolling power outages.
The heat wave brought down triple-digit temperatures and reduced the risk of wildfires and fears of coronavirus spread – a major concern in a state that has seen more than 621,000 confirmed cases. Health officials urge people to follow mask and social distance commands when going outside.
Residents, however, complained masks and social distance were often absent when hordes of visitors on Saturday crowded beaches along the Russian River in Northern California. She expected another wave of visitors Sunday.
“It’s always been busy in the summer,” said Santa Venn, a 13-year-old Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “Now it’s pretty much out of control.”
Park officials reduced capacity on two beaches by about 30% ahead of the weekend’s heatwave. Meanwhile, cities on the Monterey Peninsula, south of San Francisco, have either limited beach access or closed beaches altogether to keep visitors away.
The blowing heat is a concern for firefighters battling multiple forest fires and dozens of smaller sparks beginning Sunday due to a rare lightning storm. The prolonged heat wave, with not much to no relief during the day, also increased concerns about heatstroke and other illnesses with hot weather.
The National Water Service said temperatures in the Central Valley were expected to drop to about 80 degrees by Thursday.
The hot weather overwhelmed the state’s electric grid, prompting the California Independent System Operator, who is not running it, to warn of a shortage of electricity supplies by Sunday night.
ISO of California tried to buy extra power to prevent another rolling outage and issued a Flex Alert, urging useful customers to save energy in the late afternoon and evening hours.
“It will be tight today,” said Severin Borenstein, a board member of the ISO and Energy Economist at the University of California, Berkeley.
“There is a real concern that they will have to do it again tomorrow and Tuesday,” he said of the rolling outages.
ISO of California ordered Friday the first rolling outages in nearly 20 years, when utilities ran the state to hide their power burdens. The state’s three largest utilities – Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric – shut down power to more than 410,000 homes and businesses for about an hour at a time until the emergency was declared 3 1/2 hours later. some.
The ISO put in a second, but shorter, rolling exit on Saturday night.
The power grid is usually stressed in the late afternoon and early evening due to higher demand and production of solar energy that falls after the sun goes down.
California is increasingly relying on energy from sustainable sources instead of natural gas plants. During the summer months, the state imports power as demand rises, but a heat wave sweeping Western states meant there was less available, Borenstein said.
“They literally call like email and say, ‘Do you have the power to sell us to anyone in the West,'” he said. “But they can not force the other areas to sell their electricity like those other areas. they need it for themselves. “
The last time the state ordered rolling stock was during an energy crisis in 2001. Blackouts occurred several times from January to May, including one that affected more than 1.5 million customers. The cause was a combination of energy shortages and market manipulation by energy wholesalers, shamefully including Enron Corp., which kept prices going up by holding supplies.
