"NEW NORMAL": California Extends Electricity ‘Flex Alert,’ Warns Drivers Not to Charge Electric Cars

California Extends ‘Flex Alert,’ Warns Drivers Not to Charge Electric Cars

Jack Phillips Sep 4, 2022


Authorities in California extended a “Flex Alert” telling residents to conserve energy, including not charging their electric vehicles, on Sunday afternoon and evening.

The alert has been in effect for several days in the midst of a heat wave that is slated to last through Labor Day.

The California Independent System Operator, the manager of the state’s power grid, issued the statewide Flex Alert from 4 to 9 p.m. Residents are urged to set their thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, avoid using major appliances, avoid charging electric vehicles, and turning off unnecessary lights.

“Additional Flex Alerts will likely be called as heat will only intensify through Tuesday, with little relief from triple-digit temperatures seen over the next several days,” the operator wrote. “Daytime high temperatures are forecast at 10-20 degrees above normal in much of the state through the Labor Day weekend and into next week, and record-breaking heat is projected in some parts of California.”

Elliot Mainzer, Cal ISO president, told local media this weekend that Sept. 1 saw the “highest demand for power” since September 2017 in California, adding that it’s “a dress rehearsal for what’s going to be much more significantly stressed conditions here as we get into the heart of the weekend.”

The National Weather Service says 100-degree temperatures are currently hitting Los Angeles, the state’s most populated city, on Sunday. Sacramento and other areas in the Central Valley, meanwhile, are forecast to hit 113 degrees F on Monday and Tuesday. San Jose, another heavily populated city, will see temperatures over 100 F on Monday and Tuesday.

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