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California Has New Weapons to Battle Summer Blackouts: Battery Storage, Power From Record Rain

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

It’s a summertime sequence that’s become all too familiar in California: Extreme heat forces air conditioners into overdrive, which pushes the state’s power grid to the brink.

In August 2020, a major heat event fueled by the climate crisis forced some of the state’s first rotating power outages in decades, as the ongoing transition to green energy lagged behind demand. Last September, Californians narrowly avoided blackouts as a record-breaking heat wave broiled almost every corner of the state for days.

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Head of California Grid Expresses ‘Guarded Optimism’ About Avoiding Summer Blackouts

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

The head of California’s electric grid said Wednesday he is “guardedly optimistic” that the state will avoid rotating blackouts this summer, but warned that voluntary cooperation during Flex Alerts will be necessary.

Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator, said utilities throughout the state have built up power reserves and invested in new technology like battery storage to prevent blackouts like the ones in 2020.

But recent record heat in California and the Pacific Northwest combined with a drought that will reduce hydropower give him cause for concern.

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The World’s Largest Battery Could be the Answer to California Blackouts

/in , /by /High Country News and Gristby Emily Pontecorvo

Move over, Australia — California has stolen the claim for largest battery installation in the world. In the middle of a vicious heatwave where demand for air conditioning led to rolling blackouts, an energy development company called LS Power was working hard to add more lithium-ion batteries to its Gateway Energy Storage project in San Diego.

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