SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Struggling to stave off rolling blackouts Labor Day evening, managers of California’s beleaguered power grid declared an energy emergency alert Monday and warned that Californians might have to double or triple their energy conservation efforts to prevent the lights from going out.
The Independent System Operator, which runs the electricity grid, declared a Stage 2 emergency alert effective 6:30 p.m. Monday, a sign that supplies were turning increasingly tight as temperatures rose to 110 degrees and beyond.
Stage 2 means the organization is “forecasting an energy deficiency” and directing utilities to take steps to reduce the strain on the grid. That could include calling on backup generators that normally sit idle because of air pollution regulations.
