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Residents across the Tri-Valley on Wednesday were facing another day of sweltering temperatures, in the midst of a heat wave that is extending further into the week, with hundreds of Livermore and Dublin residents experiencing unplanned power outages by evening.
While some parts of the Bay Area are expected to cool down somewhat Thursday, temperatures across the Tri-Valley are expected to be even higher than Wednesday’s.
The National Weather Service forecasts that the Tri-Valley will continue to see triple-digit temperatures through at least Thursday. Livermore, however, is expected to continue seeing 100-plus degree high temperatures through Friday, following a record-breaking 116 degree high Monday.
An excessive heat warning remains in effect through Thursday evening at 8 p.m.
Starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, residents were also subject to a Flex Alert 2 asking them to reduce power consumption until 9 p.m. Rolling blackouts were averted Tuesday, as residents and businesses managed to conserve a sufficient amount of energy to relieve the power grid that has struggled under the ongoing heat wave.
Thursday will mark the seventh day of the Flex Alert from the California Independent System Operator, with many crossing their fingers that power outages that have racked the region can be avoided once again.
But by 6:27 p.m. Wednesday, 229 Livermore customers and 207 Dublin customers were facing unplanned outages, according to PG&E, making up more than half of the 772 customers affected by outages throughout Alameda County.
CAISO issued an Energy Emergency Alert 2 on Wednesday, following an EEA 3 on Tuesday.
“The emergency alert has been declared to help the grid secure more supplies and urge market participants to lower demand on the system,” CAISO officials said in an announcement. “The state and much of the West is enduring an historically long and record-breaking heat wave, straining the grid from high electricity use.”
According to the CAISO website, an EEA 2 means that the agency “requests emergency energy from all resources and has activated its emergency demand response program,” and that “consumers are urged to conserve electricity.”
PG&E warned residents across the state to brace for rotating outages, in a Wednesday press release.
“As of 2:30 p.m., the CAISO has not asked utilities, including PG&E, to implement rotating outages,” PG&E officials said in the announcement. “However, out of an abundance of caution, PG&E has given advanced notification to approximately 525,277 customers to prepare for potential rotating outages this evening in case they need to take place. The CAISO supports utilities notifying their customers of potential power outages so that customers can be ready.”
As of 6:45 p.m., CAISO reported 47,187 megawatts of power demand across the state, below the forecasted peak of 50,132 megawatts.
As the extreme heat wears on, cooling centers throughout the Tri-Valley are continuing to operate through Thursday. These include the Pleasanton, Livermore, Danville and San Ramon libraries, the Robert Livermore Community Center, and the Dublin Senior Center.
