Governor Gavin Newsom urged Californians on Tuesday to turn up their thermostats and “double down to save energy” as a record heat wave threatens to overwhelm the state’s energy grid and cause power outages.
“Everyone has to do their part to help for just a few more days. Individuals, the state, industries, business, all doing their part to help reduce strain on the grid,” he said. “Today and tomorrow afternoon, after 4 p.m., in particular 4 p.m., please turn your thermostat up to 78 degrees or higher and avoid to the extent possible using any really large appliances.”
Residents can also help by pre-cooling their homes by using the air conditioning only in the mornings “when more power is available,” as well as to close windows and blinds to trap the cool in, he said.
Newsom noted that California and other western states are facing unprecedented high temperatures that could impose severe pressure on the power supply. In Colorado last week, 22,000 residents were met with an “emergency alert” on their thermostats that prevented them from cranking up their air conditioners as temperatures climbed to the nineties.
“The risk for outages is real and its immediate. These triple-digit temperatures throughout much of this state are leading, not surprisingly, to record demand on the energy grid,” he said.
In May, California energy officials warned that the power grid and supply systems lacked sufficient capacity to provide the state with electricity in the event that heatwaves, wildfires or other natural disasters hit. They projected that there’d be a potential shortfall of between 1,700 to 5,0000 megawatts this year, leaving between one million and four million people without power, USNews reported.
Newsom has presided over the state government’s aggressive climate change policies and transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, a decision which came with rolling blackouts during summer 2o20. In 2018, California set the goal to produce all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.
During last July’s heat wave in the state, Newsom issued an emergency proclamation ordering state regulators to maximize power generation, including by using backup energy from fossil fuels to increase capacity and lessen burden on the state’s energy grid through the fall. The declaration relaxed some regulations and directed the state to reimburse utilities for payments made to customers who agreed to decrease their energy consumption when the grid is stressed, the Los Angles Times reported.
Despite the unreliability of alternative energy to support the state’s constant energy needs, Newsom doubled down on the green initiative with new proposals last month, including codifying the statewide carbon neutrality goal to dramatically reduce climate pollution and adopting a more aggressive 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
“Cleaning the air we breathe. Protecting our communities from the harmful impacts of the oil industry. Accelerating California’s clean energy future. Each of these actions on their own are monumental steps to tackling the climate crisis – but California isn’t waiting a minute longer to get them done. We’re taking all of these major actions now in the most aggressive push on climate this state has ever seen because later is too late,” he said.