Hundreds of thousands of California residents were hit by a series of rolling blackouts over the weekend, with energy experts unable to identify the exact cause of the rotating power outage amid a historic heat wave.
Although planned blackouts have been orchestrated in recent years to help prevent burns, California has not seen widespread supply-related disruptions since 2001, when Enron and other energy traders manipulated the state’s market.
Govin Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed an emergency declaration on Sunday allowing some energy users and utilities to use backup energy sources, and he has instructed several government agencies to investigate the blackouts.
California finally did not experience any blackouts on Monday, after the state’s power grid operator initially warned residents that they expected outages to be carried out to reduce pressure on the power grid.
The president has long criticized Democratic leaders in California for their state stewardship, and is playing down forest management efforts he has called disbelief.
But Trump’s comments on California’s affairs have drawn skepticism from local officials and the scientific community.
He memorably announced in August 2018 that a wave of fires in California was the result of then-Gov. Jerry Brown lets too much fresh water flow into the Pacific Ocean.
And during a subsequent visit to the state in November 2018, Trump suggested listening to ‘the forests of California’ – and said President Sauli Niinistö of Finland had told him about the preferred method of management. Niinistö later denied that such a conversation had taken place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
