California calls for power conservation as heat wave looms

Reuters

Published Jul 08, 2021 08:29PM ET

(Reuters) - California's power grid operator on Thursday issued a "flex" alert for Friday, asking consumers to conserve energy from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. as high demand driven by extreme heat could trigger a capacity shortfall on the state's electric grid.

If the grid is still unable to meet power needs and other tools for emergency conditions also fall short, the California Independent System (ISO), the grid operator, said in a statement that it could order utilities to implement rotating power outages, "although that is not anticipated at this time."