California Cools Off After Record Heat Sent Power Prices Zooming
Californians Asked to Curb Power Use as Heat Stokes Fire Risk
(Bloomberg) -- California’s sweltering three-day heat wave is easing up after record temperatures prompted calls to conserve energy and triggered PG&E Corp.’s wildfire-prevention plan.
While relief is expected in the Bay Area on Wednesday, the heat is spreading across other parts of the West. Seattle’s expected high of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius) will tie a record set for this day in 1999, and Portland is expected to reach 97 degrees after tying a 1941 record Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
With highs in San Francisco in the mid-70s, wholesale electricity prices returned to normal ranges. On Tuesday, prices at a Northern California hub surged past $1,000 a megawatt-hour and averaged $369.08 a megawatt-hour in the hour ended 11 a.m., the highest for that time of day in more than a year, according to power-grid data compiled by Bloomberg.
Temperatures surged past 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of California Tuesday, with heat advisories in effect across the state. On Monday, San Francisco was hotter than Las Vegas, also topping out at 100, according to AccuWeather. The temperatures broke a record for the day set in 1994, the National Weather Service said.
The hot weather, combined with high winds, prompted utility giant PG&E to shut off power to thousands of customers in northern California over the weekend, an effort to avoid the kind of catastrophic wildfires that broke out last year.
On late Tuesday, thousands of Northern California customers were without service, in Fremont, Orinda and Rocklin. California’s grid operator was urging people to conserve electricity after mechanical issues took two power plants offline as demand from air conditioners surged.
--With assistance from Mark Chediak.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gerald Porter Jr. in New York at gporter30@bloomberg.net;Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Will Wade, Joe Ryan
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