California’s grid operator issued a Stage 3 energy emergency alert (EEA) at 5:17 p.m. PST on Sept. 6, warning it would order rotating power outages to lower soaring power demand and stabilize its grid if necessary.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) cautiously raised the emergency alert from Stage 2, which it had declared earlier on Tuesday, based on forecasts that the state faced energy deficiency with all available resources in use until 8 p.m. PST. While the EEA 2 alert signaled to grid participants to bid more energy into the market and opened emergency demand response options, the grid operator on Tuesday evening warned that a historic heat wave was compounding tight supply conditions.

An EEA 3 alert means that the ISO is unable to meet minimum contingency reserve requirements. “Maximum conservation efforts are urged,” CAISO said in its EEA 3 notice. “During this time, participating  customers will be directed by utilities to use generators approved for  emergencies, or to reduce load following the protocols of each utility program.”…

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