Californians sidestep blackouts but wildfires take out power plants
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San Francisco — California once again evaded rolling blackouts on Sunday after residents dramatically curbed electricity use during a record-breaking heat wave — but the state’s energy crisis is far from over.
The sweltering temperatures are fueling wildfires that have, just this weekend, taken down power plants, forced evacuations and cut power to about 70,000 homes and businesses. Even when the heat begins to dissipate on Monday, offshore winds forecast to hit Northern California will stoke the risk of more fires, likely forcing even more outages.
Such is life in a changing climate: More extreme weather inciting more frequent blazes, and an electric grid struggling to cope with unprecedented heat. San Francisco on Sunday hit 38°C, smashing a prior record of 33°C set in 1904, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles reached 43°C and San Diego topped 37°C , also records.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs most of the state’s grid, credited consumers with averting what would have been the largest blackout in state history and the third round of rolling outages in less than a month. But for some Californians, dialing back their air conditioners won’t be enough to keep the lights on as wildfires rage across the state.
Utility giant PG&E warned that more than 100,000 customers may go dark late on Monday in parts of the San Francisco Bay area and Sierra Nevada foothills in a bid to keep its power lines from igniting fires. It’s the first time this fire season that PG&E has warned of shutoffs.
Liabilities fund
Last year, when California’s utilities first began carrying out widespread blackouts like this, some homes and businesses were left in the dark for days. That drew outrage from state and local officials, triggered investigations and prompted PG&E to reassess the scope of future shutoffs.
Years of deadly fires started by PG&E’s wires in wind storms forced California’s largest utility to declare bankruptcy last year. The company emerged in July after agreeing to pay $25.5bn to settle wildfire lawsuits. The state has since set up a wildfire liabilities fund, essentially an insurance pool for the region’s utilities, but just one catastrophic blaze could wipe it out.
The latest blazes are already wreaking havoc on the grid. The Creek Fire in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which has scorched 18,413ha and is not contained, knocked out transmission from a hydro plant on Saturday. Another fire in ...
The sweltering temperatures are fueling wildfires that have, just this weekend, taken down power plants, forced evacuations and cut power to about 70,000 homes and businesses. Even when the heat begins to dissipate on Monday, offshore winds forecast to hit Northern California will stoke the risk of more fires, likely forcing even more outages.
Such is life in a changing climate: More extreme weather inciting more frequent blazes, and an electric grid struggling to cope with unprecedented heat. San Francisco on Sunday hit 38°C, smashing a prior record of 33°C set in 1904, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles reached 43°C and San Diego topped 37°C , also records.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs most of the state’s grid, credited consumers with averting what would have been the largest blackout in state history and the third round of rolling outages in less than a month. But for some Californians, dialing back their air conditioners won’t be enough to keep the lights on as wildfires rage across the state.
Utility giant PG&E warned that more than 100,000 customers may go dark late on Monday in parts of the San Francisco Bay area and Sierra Nevada foothills in a bid to keep its power lines from igniting fires. It’s the first time this fire season that PG&E has warned of shutoffs.
Liabilities fund
Last year, when California’s utilities first began carrying out widespread blackouts like this, some homes and businesses were left in the dark for days. That drew outrage from state and local officials, triggered investigations and prompted PG&E to reassess the scope of future shutoffs.
Years of deadly fires started by PG&E’s wires in wind storms forced California’s largest utility to declare bankruptcy last year. The company emerged in July after agreeing to pay $25.5bn to settle wildfire lawsuits. The state has since set up a wildfire liabilities fund, essentially an insurance pool for the region’s utilities, but just one catastrophic blaze could wipe it out.
The latest blazes are already wreaking havoc on the grid. The Creek Fire in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which has scorched 18,413ha and is not contained, knocked out transmission from a hydro plant on Saturday. Another fire in ...