California Weathers Heat Wave Without Rolling Blackouts
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Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- A brutal Western heat wave brought California to the verge of ordering rolling blackouts but the state’s electrical grid managed to handle record-breaking demand.
The state’s 39 million people were warned Tuesday that demand — some of it from people cranking up the air conditioning — might outstrip supply as temperatures in many areas soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which oversees the electrical grid, issued a Stage 3 emergency power alert — one step below ordering utilities to start rotating outages to ease the strain on the system. The move allowed it to draw on emergency power sources.