California authorities warned residents and electricity consumers to “be prepared for possible outages” on Tuesday evening, as the state struggled to meet energy demand during the hottest day of an ongoing heat wave.
It was the second consecutive Level 2 “Energy Emergency Alert” issued by the California Independent System Operator (ISO), one step up from the original Level 1 alert that had been issued earlier on Tuesday, and one step below Level 3, which would require rolling blackouts across the state.
Tuesday also marked the seventh consecutive “Flex Alert” issued by the California ISO, which originally called on consumers to conserve power from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., then expanded the period to 10:00 p.m.. Among other recommendations, the California ISO urges owners of electric vehicles not to charge them during that time.
Officials expected the state to break the record for energy demand Tuesday, with energy use possibly exceeding 51,000 megawatts.
As solar power becomes unavailable in the evening, the state struggles to meet its own energy needs — especially since it has been closing natural gas and nuclear power plants.
On Monday, the state activated four emergency natural gas plants for the first time, and imported power from the Pacific Northwest.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.