California’s power grid urged customers to conserve energy for the ninth day in a row on Thursday as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave lingering over the drought-stricken region since the start of September.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO), the grid operator for most of the state, said consumer conservation efforts so far this week have been key to helping the grid avoid rotating outages. Demand for power in the ISO hit an all-time high on Tuesday while prices for Tuesday and Wednesday hit two-year highs before dropping on Thursday.
The ISO again issued an alert and called on residents to not charge their electric vehicles, use major appliances, and to turn off lights between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. That’s because the state, in part, relies on solar energy. When the sun goes down, solar power stops working….