California orders rolling blackouts for up to 250,000 homes and businesses as heat wave grips the state with temperatures hitting 112 degrees and crowds flocking to beaches

Rolling blackouts could affect up to 250,000 homes and businesses in the state
Such a power cut has not been implemented since 2001, when there was a massive electric crisis
San Joaquin Valley will see temperatures of 112 degrees and Los Angeles is expected to reach 96 degrees
While residents stay indoors because of the pandemic, Californians are using more AC in their homes

By Matthew Wright For Dailymail.com

Published: 01:08 EDT, 15 August 2020 | Updated: 10:05 EDT, 15 August 2020

Hundreds of thousands of Californians were plunged into darkness on Friday evening as companies cut power to homes after the state's Independent System Operator declared a Stage 3 energy emergency.

With temperatures soaring above 100 degrees in many parts of the state, and millions of residents stuck at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, experts feared the high demand for power would overwhelm the grid.

'A Stage 3 Emergency is declared when demand outpaces available supply. Rotating power interruptions have been initiated to maintain stability of the electric grid,' the Independent System Operator announced shortly before 6pm.

After that announcement, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. confirmed it would be cutting power to as many as 250,000 customers, while Southern California Edison also said they would be conducting rolling blackouts.

Residents were unable to be notified due-- excerpt, rest at link above --

But it's a dry heat.

California Suffers 2nd Day of Blackouts as Wind, Solar Power Falter
https://www.breitbart.com/environment/20...r-power-falter/

Joel B. Pollak
16 Aug 20203,892

California suffered a second day of rolling electricity blackouts on Saturday evening as the state’s power grid struggled to deal with a heat wave that caused a surge in consumer demand.

There was widespread public confusion, as the state’s electricity grid operator had said earlier in the day that no blackouts would be necessary.

Bay Area public radio station KQED reported:

The California Independent System Operator, the agency that manages the state’s complex power grid, had expressed optimism as late as 4:30 p.m. that no emergency declaration would be necessary.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Wow, @Magwitch - I hope everything was OK. Do you have a generator to keep the fridge and freezer working during outages?

Do you have 24 hour power, @Magwitch ?