Blackout Risk Prompts California Officials to Ask Residents to Avoid Charging Their Electric Vehicles

California officials are asking residents to avoid charging their electric vehicles amid risks of a blackout.

The California Independent System Operator issued a bulletin warning residents of blackouts.

In the bulletin issued Tuesday, the operator explained, “Starting tomorrow through Thursday, California and the West are expecting extreme heat that is likely to strain the grid with increased energy demands, especially over the holiday weekend.”

The bulletin noted temperatures in Northern California are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees warmer than normal through September 6.

Southern California will reportedly experience temperatures 10 to 18 degrees warmer than normal.

As a result, “The power grid operator expects to call on Californians for voluntary energy conservation via Flex alerts.”

According to the bulletin, during the alerts, “Consumers are urged to reduce energy use from 4-9 p.m. when the system is most stressed because demand for electricity remains high and there is less solar energy available.”

It continues, “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 necessary lights.”

Read the bulletin below:

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1564842770665275393

The bulletin comes just under a week after it was reported that the state was expected to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars, as IJR reported.

The rule would “require that 100 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions chiefly responsible for warming the planet, up from 12 percent today,” as