LOS ANGELES — At about 5:45 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, millions of Californians’ cellphones lit up with a new type of emergency alert: “Conserve energy now to protect public health and safety.”
That text message warning proved critical in helping avoid rolling blackouts during the grueling heat wave that has taxed the state’s power grid for more than a week, according to California officials.
“Within moments, we saw a significant amount of load reduction showing up, to the tune of approximately 2,000 megawatts over the next 20 to 30 minutes,” said Elliot Mainzer, the president and chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid. “That significant response from California consumers to the wireless emergency alert allowed us to restore our operating reserves and took us back from the edge of broader grid disturbance.”
