Rolling blackouts ‘very possible,’ Cal ISO says

(KRON) — The Pacific Gas and Electric Company warned customers that there may be rotating power outages on Tuesday. With high heat across California, PG&E said the power grid may not be able to sustain the demand.

California ISO declared an Energy Emergency Alert 3 at 5:45, saying rolling blackouts are “very possible. Cal ISO said an Energy Emergency Alert 3 means “ISO unable to meet minimum Contingency Reserve requirements. Controlled power curtailments imminent or in progress according to utility’s emergency plan. Maximum conservation requested.”

There have been outages across the Bay Area since Monday that Pacific Gas and Electric Company said were weather-related. Now, the power grid is so stressed that planned outages may be affecting some homes.

“Rotating outages are a series of controlled outages that would affect customers for 1-2 hours,” PG&E said. “Rotating outages would relieve stress on the grid to help prevent more widespread power outages.”

Who will be impacted by the outages?

The outages will rotate from area to area so no neighborhood is without power for an extended time, PG&E said. It is designed to reduce demand and maintain reliability on the grid.

The power grid is organized by zones that PG&E refers to as “blocks.” PG&E said the following blocks may be impacted by the rolling blackouts.

4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, 4J, 4K, 4L, 4M, 4O, 4P, 4Q, 4R, 4S, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, 5H, 5I, 5J, 5K, 5L, 5M, 5O, 5P, 5Q, 5R, 5S, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F, 6G, 6H, 6I, 6J, 6K, 6L, 6M, 6O, 6P, 6Q, 6R, 6S, 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F, 7G, 7H, 7I, 7J, 7K, 7L, 7M, 7O, 7P, 7Q, 7R, 7S, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, 8H, 8I, 8J, 8K, 8L, 8M, 8O, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 8S.

According to a tweet from a PG&E spokesperson, the utility is contacting 525,000 customers who might experience rotating outages lasting one to two hours.

How to find out if you will be impacted

To find what block your outage falls under, click HERE.

KRON4 has confirmed that PG&E customers in some parts of the Bay Area are already receiving texts notifying them they could lose power in one of the planned outages.

Temperatures have risen high enough in the Bay Area to break records in some cities. The hottest parts of the region are Walnut Creek and Danville, which reached 119 degrees.

California has issued a Flex Alert for each of the past seven days. The Flex Alert asks residents to conserve energy on the grid to prevent these outages.

What areas will be hit with rolling blackouts?

KRON4 has confirmed that areas within the following cities could be impacted by planned outages:

• Santa Rosa
• Oakland
• Daly City
• Concord