California regulators say the state is unlikely to experience electricity shortages this summer after securing new power sources and a wet winter that filled the state’s reservoirs enough to restart hydroelectric power plants that were dormant during the drought.
that filled the state’s reservoirs enough to restart hydroelectric power plants that were dormant during the drought.
It got so hot in August 2020 that California’s power grid was overwhelmed, prompting the state’s three largest utility companies to shut off electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes for a few hours over two consecutive days. Similar heat waves in 2021 and 2022 pushed the state to the brink again. State officials avoided blackouts by encouraging people to conserve energy and tapping some emergency gas-powered generators.
That won’t be a problem this year after winter storms dumped massive amounts of rain and snow on the state. Plus, an additional 8,594 megawatts of power from wind, solar and battery storage will come online by Sept. 1, according to Neil Millar, vice president of Transmission Planning & Infrastructure Development for the California Independent System Operator.
To avoid blackouts during heat waves, Newsom and the state Legislature spent $3.3 billion to create a "strategic reliability reserve." State officials used the money to extend the life of some gas-fired power plants that were scheduled to retire and to purchase large diesel-powered generators. Last September, when a severe heat wave pushed the statewide demand for electricity to an all-time high, this reserve generated up to 1,416 megawatts of energy.
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