California grid operators declared an Energy Emergency Alert for the second day in a row on Wednesday as a blistering heat wave continues to threaten the state’s power grid and risk rolling outages.
The California Independent System Operator said the emergency alert is at Level 2 of its three-tier emergency alert system, meaning that it is requesting emergency energy from all resources and asking households to curb use to prevent blackouts.
“The emergency alert has been declared to help the grid secure more supplies and urge market participants to lower demand on the system,” CAISO said in a statement.
In addition, a Flex Alert is also in effect again from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., when the grid is most strained.
During Flex Alerts, consumers are “strongly urged” to curb their power use voluntarily, including setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoiding the use of large appliances or electric vehicle charging, and turning off unnecessary lights.
Lowering power usage during that time will prevent “more drastic measures, including rotating power outages,” CAISO officials said.
It’s the eighth day in a row that CAISO has asked residents to conserve energy through the alerts and other voluntary measures.
It also comes just one day after CAISO issued a Level 3 energy emergency, the final step before rotating power outages, as high heat threatens power loss for more than 500,000 consumers in the state.
Electricity demand soared to a record-breaking 52,000 megawatts Tuesday, far surpassing the previous record set in 2006.
“I know this has been a very long heat wave, and we’re not asking you to do even more,” CAISO Chief Executive Elliot Mainzer said in a video shared on Twitter on Tuesday. “But please stick with us and don’t use any more power than is absolutely necessary.”
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The new emergency declaration comes as the heat dome extends through a seventh day, sending temperatures skyrocketing to all-time highs in Sacramento and the Bay Area.
Much of the state remains under an excessive heat warning through Friday, officials said, a longer period than originally forecast.
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“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a message posted late Tuesday on his Twitter page.
