PG&E shuts off power around California Friday night due to heatwave
(KION)
UPDATE 8/15/20 8/15 p.m. - Hundreds of thousands of people had their power shut off around California Friday night.
PG&E announced that 200,000 to 250,000 customers will lose power in estimated one-hour blocks until around 11 p.m. Friday to ease strain on the power grid, which is caused by the current heatwave. Since this is an emergency, PG&E writes that they are unable to notify customers in advance.
PG&E says they, and other power companies, were directed to start these shutoffs by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). California ISO declared a "stage 3 emergency" meaning demand outpaces available power supply.
While these shutoffs are happening, people in California are asked to conserve power through 11 p.m.
As of 8:00 p.m., about 4,500 customers were without power in Salinas.
At 11 p.m., PG&E responded to KION saying that the Salinas outage was not related to the rotating emergency shut off. They did not give a reason for the outage.
As of 7:53 p.m., there is a large scale outage in the Santa Cruz mountains - more than 7,000 customers in two separate outages around Scotts Valley, Felton, Ben Lomond and surrounding communities.
At 11 p.m. PG&E told KION is the Santa Cruz outage was not related to the rotating emergency shut off. A representative said it was caused by a tree hitting power lines.
The PG&E representative said the only counties impacted by the emergency power shut off were San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and El Dorado.
In all, PG&E reported that 220,000 customers had their power shut off, with full restoration expected by 11 p.m. on Friday.
This is a developing story.
ORIGINAL REPORT 8/14/20
The California Independent System Operator has declared a statewide Stage 2 Emergency Friday due to excessive heat.
The agency said the heat is driving up electricity use and straining the grid, and if conditions do not improve, the agency said it would declare a Stage 3 emergency, which would lead to rotating power outages.
On Thursday, California ISO issued a Flex Alert to ask Californians to conserve energy between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
California ISO said it is working with utilities and neighboring power systems to manage the strain and prevent outages.
There are heat advisories and excessive heat warnings around parts of California and the Central Coast Friday.
