Millions of Californians spent a scorching Saturday without power, living through the first rolling blackouts since the energy crisis of 2001. And thousands more will be without air conditioning and fans in next several days as the killer heatwave wears on.
Up and down the West Coast, cities and towns alike are bracing for electricity grids maxed out by the hottest temperatures in more than 70 years. Highs could reach 112 degrees.
California’s grid buckled Friday from all the air conditioners and fans running at full-strength to combat the 100-degree-plus heat, Bloomberg reported.
California residents are especially vulnerable to the heat and blackouts because so many are working from home because of the pandemic. They’re being asked to conserve energy by not using any appliance between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Most of the shutoffs came from California’s state’s biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric. The company faced harsh criticism last summer for cutting off electricity to much of Northern California with the goal of keeping power lines from sparking wildfires.
Customers are just as angry this year.
“The way PG&E is managing the blackout makes it impossible to prepare,” Shelley Taylor, CEO of the Sonoma-based emergency software services company Trellyz, told the Post.
“Very few people have generators. There’s no map showing where the power is off so you can’t figure out where to go where the power is on. It’s outrageous. All the while they’re flooding Facebook with a jolly picture of a flashlight and smiley face. As if a flashlight is going to save your refrigerator full of food and connect you to the Internet when you’re working remotely.”
Residents should have power at least through Sunday, officials at the California Independent System Operator, state’s electricity grid, told the Sacramento Bee.
“We don’t anticipate any emergency declarations,” said ISO spokeswoman Anne Gonzales.