California urges power conservation in heat wave, prices soar

(Reuters, 28 Jul 2021) The Californian grid operator issued a flex alert urging consumers to conserve electricity Wednesday evening to reduce strain on the grid and avoid outages when solar power drops.

U.S. power prices soared on Wednesday as homes and businesses cranked up air conditioners to escape another heat wave, prompting the California grid operator to urge conservation.

The United States has been beset by extreme weather events this year, including February's freeze in Texas that knocked out power to millions and record heat in the Pacific Northwest this summer.

High temperatures were expected to reach 102 Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) on Friday in Portland, Oregon, where the normal high is 80 F at this time of year, according to AccuWeather.

Meteorologists also forecast hotter-than-normal weather in Central California, which is used to temperatures over 100 F.

The California ISO, grid operator for most of the state, issued a flex alert urging consumers to conserve electricity on Wednesday evening to reduce strain on the grid and avoid outages when solar power stops working as the sun goes.

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Reuters, 28 Jul 2021: California urges power conservation in heat wave, prices soar