As a brutal heatwave is heading to California this week, California’s power grid manager is calling on electric vehicle owners to avoid charging at peak times. The request is part of a broader effort to keep the state’s grid up and running, while locals crank their air conditioners to outlast a series of seriously hot days.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has been asking residents to conserve energy by “setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, if health permits, avoiding use of major appliances and turning off unnecessary lights” from 4 to 9 p.m. Pacific. “They should also avoid charging electric vehicles” during that time frame, they added, which oversees California’s grid and energy market.
CAISO has also cautioned that it may issue additional calls to safeguard electricity in response to triple-digits forecast. The warning came as Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation to increase energy production in the state.
The soaring temperatures and conservation requests come as California’s Air Resources Board clears the way to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars.
The regulation is seen by climate experts as a crucial step for California, and the other states that may follow its lead, to lessen the greenhouse gas emissions that are making heat waves ever worse and more frequent.
Gas-powered passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks make up more than half of U.S. transportation emissions, a recent study showed and therefore it is more important now than ever to make a change and move forward with regulation.
