Skip to main content

Californians Asked to Save Energy Due to Bitter Cold Back East

Support Provided By
flexalert-light-switch-2-6-14-thumb-600x450-68192
You know what to do. | Photo: Mike/Flickr/Creative Commons License

The bitter cold that's locked down much of the United States is having an effect even in relatively warm California: demand for natural gas for heating and extra power back east is cutting supplies to Southern California gas-fired power plants. That's prompted the state's grid operator to ask us all to cut down on the power we use.

In other words, the California Independent System Operator Corporation is issuing a statewide Flex Alert for Thursday, February 6, lasting until 10:00 p.m.

"While the natural gas shortage is only impacting Southern California power plants," says CaISO in its announcement Thursday, "statewide electricity and gas conservation will help free up both electricity and gas supplies for Southern Californians. Customers in both Southern and Northern California are asked to reduce their energy use between 1:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m."

Though Flex Alert energy-saving practices should be pretty familiar to most Californians, it's always a good idea to review them. They include all the basic conservation measures we should be following anyway, including turning off unused lights and appliances, saving postponable loads of laundry and dishes until evening, and turning thermostats either down or up, depending on which part of the state you're in, to save energy in climate control.

One other energy-saving measure CaISO's recommending might just provoke a resentful eye-roll from our currently snow-bound fellow Americans: the agency suggests we set our swimming pool pumps to stay off until after the end of the FlexAlert at 10:00 p.m.

FlexAlerts are voluntary calls for Californians to save energy in their homes and businesses issued when the grid's margin between supply and demand threatens to get a little bit too thin. You can sign up to get FlexAlerts via email or text message at the FlexAlert website, or follow the FlexAlert Twitter account.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.