“Avoid Charging EVs”: California Grid Operator Warns Of Blackouts, Urges Energy Conservation

California power grid officials have a sobering warning this week, telling customers to brace for potential blackouts as the state’s grid faces capacity constraints over the Labor Day weekend.

“The top three conservation actions are to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights. 

“Lowering electricity use during that time will ease strain on the system, and prevent more drastic measures, including rotating power outages,” California Independent System Operator (CAISO) told customers. 

California’s grid is projected to exceed 48,000 megawatts next Monday, the highest of the year, as a menacing heatwave will send temperatures across the state 10-20 degrees above normal through next Tuesday. 

“If weather or grid conditions worsen, the ISO may issue a series of emergency notifications to access additional resources and prepare market participants and the public for potential energy shortages and the need to conserve,” California’s grid operator warned. 

The fact that CAISO has to ask customers not to charge their EVs during the current heatwave implies the grid is fragile. So much for the green energy transition to unreliable renewable solar and wind. A surge in EV charging at home could bring down parts of the state’s grid. 

So how is the progressive state hellbent on ridding fossil fuel generation from the grid, expected with unreliable solar and wind going to support all the new EVs after lawmakers passed a new measure last week to eliminate all gas-powered vehicles by 2035?

Nuclear is the only answer to decarbonizing a power grid with sustainable power generation. Asia gets it. 

Grid operators are concerned by the increasing use of air conditioners, and as the evening rolls around, people plug in their EVs to charge, increasing power demand as supply constraints suggest the state will have years of a chaotic grid, similar to a third world country.