CALIFORNIA, USA — Update: 8:10 p.m.
PG&E says the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) won't be requiring a third night of rolling power outages from them to meet supply needs.
Earlier, PG&E expected another directive from CAISO to perform the rolling outages for the third night in a row. PG&E expected that to impact a portion of counties in the Bay Area.
Customers are still being urged to to conserve electricity through Sunday night.
Original story:
The utility giant is expecting the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to call for more rolling power outages on Sunday, likely from the early to late evening.
PG&E said they expect a potential CAISO directive to impact about 210,000 customers in portions of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Contra Costa Counties. However, the utility said outages are expected to last one to two hours with no customers impacted overnight
Officials said the power outages are meant to prevent larger outages. CAISO orders the service shut offs when they won't be able to meeting minimum contingency reserve requirements and when load interruption is near. The service shutoffs reduce the electrical load.
CAISO said that the ongoing heatwave in California and other western states is causing "a strain on supplies" and that there is not enough energy to meet the high demand from consumers during the heatwave.
With the emergency nature of the outages, PG&E said utilities won't be able to give advance warning to customers about them.
In a news release, CAISO said consumers should be prepared for the likelihood of rolling outages during the late afternoons and early through Wednesday.
CAISO issued a Flex Alert urging people to conserve electricity during the heatwave.
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