Residents heed calls to restrict use, but electric grid struggles to cope with unprecedented heat
Sitting alone in the candle-lit restaurant Reel and Brand in Sonoma, California, the US, on October 92019, during a planned power outage. Picture: AFP/BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL
Such is life in a changing climate: More extreme weather inciting more frequent blazes, and an electric grid struggling to cope with unprecedented heat. San Francisco on Sunday hit 38°C, smashing a prior record of 33°C set in 1904, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles reached 43°C and San Diego topped 37°C , also records.
Years of deadly fires started by PG&E’s wires in wind storms forced California’s largest utility to declare bankruptcy last year. The company emerged in July after agreeing to pay $25.5bn to settle wildfire lawsuits. The state has since set up a wildfire liabilities fund, essentially an insurance pool for the region’s utilities, but just one catastrophic blaze could wipe it out.
Over the next two hours, officials called on consumers to turn off lights and appliances, to keep the grid from collapsing. It worked, but the ISO warned that it isn’t over yet.
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