The operator of California's electric power system said there would be "no outages" Saturday night, lifting an emergency notice issued earlier in the evening.
"Thank you for doing your part!" the California ISO tweeted just after 9 p.m., about three hours after issuing an emergency notice that came with a warning of possible rotating outages through the state, including San Diego County.
A relentless heat wave scorching the region on Labor Day weekend prompted the California ISO to issue a CAISO Grid Stage 2 System Emergency Notice at 5:49 p.m. Saturday. According to the California ISO, a Stage 2 notice means the ISO “has taken all mitigating actions and is no longer able to provide its expected energy requirements.” You can read more on the ISO’s emergency notices and what they mean here.
The California ISO initially said the notice would be in effect through 11 p.m., but by 9 p.m., it was lifted. The grid operator credited Californians for doing their part to conserve energy.
During the Stage 2 alert, the ISO asked Californians to conserve energy, including San Diego Gas & Electric customers, as well as the state’s customers of Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The ISO said it was possible that service would be interrupted during the emergency period as the grid was strained with people using electricity.
SDG&E said Saturday evening that it was considering initiating rotating power outages, though no further details were shared.
San Diego County was under a Flex Alert at the time of the Stage 2 notice Saturday. People were asked to conserve energy between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. as a heat wave swept the region on the holiday weekend.
The ISO ended the Flex Alert promptly at 9 p.m. Saturday but reminded Californians that another Flex Alert would be in effect from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday as the hot, dry weather continued.
Last month, also during a heat wave, California's power grid warned of rotating outages, once again asking residents to conserve energy.
