As the state continued to endure an extreme heatwave, California grid operators were able to avoid rolling blackouts Monday.
Officials had warned up to 3 million customers could lose power at some point during the day. Steve Berberich, the president of CAL-ISO, the independent entity that operates the California electrical grid, said in a statement “this heat storm is not over, and we still expect exceedingly hot temperatures [Tuesday] and Wednesday. With continued help from California residents in conserving energy, much like today, we can reduce the risk of power outages,” Governor Gavin Newson promised a full investigation into the outages, which some are warning could be linked to the state’s efforts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We cannot sacrifice reliability as we move forward in this transition [from fossil fuels to cleaner energy],” he said. “And we’re going to be much more aggressive in focusing our efforts and our intention in making sure that is the case.”