Some residents in California experienced rolling blackouts because of miscommunications with utility companies Tuesday night.
According to CAISO officials, despite the demand for electricity reaching record levels Tuesday evening, there was no need to order rolling blackouts. However, CAISO did confirm that a handful of utility operators moved ahead with rolling outages anyway, saying “miscommunication” led some providers to believe outages had been requested.
“We did not need, nor was it our intention to signal the need for rotating outages,” President and CEO of CAISO Elliot Mainzer told reporters Wednesday. “We’ll work with [utility operators] to make sure there is no miscommunication at all tonight.”
A level three Energy Emergency Alert was issued by CAISO shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, warning utility providers to prepare for rolling blackouts, but it does not officially order outages. The California Independent System Operator did not order rolling blackouts for some providers, including Palo Alto Utilities and Alameda Municipal Power.
A statement from Alameda Municipal Power said that together with NCPA and CAISO, it is attempting to clarify procedures to ensure that unnecessary outages are avoided."
9 Sep 2022
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