By Jeremy Frankel
Published:June 28, 2021
-NewsMax
California’s power grid operators have asked the state’s residents to conserve electricity in order to put less strain on the power grid amid a major heat wave.
The Epoch Times reported that the California Independent System Operator (ISO) told residents numerous times in the past week to voluntarily conserve energy, even asking them on social media to avoid charging electric vehicles during peak usage times.
The ISO also said residents should avoid “use of large appliances and turning off extra lights,” and wrote that “[T]his usually happens in the evening hours when solar generation is going offline and consumers are returning home and switching on air conditioners, lights, and appliances.”
This is happening as the federal government and certain state governments, including California’s, are looking to change their respective fleets to electric vehicles. California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom announced last fall that 2035 would be a target date for ending the sale of petroleum-powered vehicles in the state, saying that in 15 years, “zero-emission vehicles will almost certainly be cheaper and better than the traditional fossil fuel powered car.”
Lead commissioner on transportation at the California Energy Commission, Patty Monahan, said that, in order to avoid putting a strain on power grids, people should charge their cars at different times, stating that “[C]harging behaviors matter when it comes to California grid goals. By incentivizing, primarily through rates, charging behaviors that capitalize on when renewable energy is being generated—we basically have a win for the grid, and we have a win for the drivers in terms of reduced rates. Rates are a climate strategy, and California plans on using rates to help drive the charging behaviors that are going to help the state electrify transportation while cutting carbon from the grid and saving ratepayers and drivers money.”
