Newsom thanks Californians for conserving energy; rolling blackouts avoided for 2nd straight day
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- California has a long, hot few days ahead of it. But, Gov. Newsom expressing gratitude to the state's 40 million residents after the state's independent system operator did not institute rolling blackouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"27 million of those text messages went out and within 45 minutes we saw roughly 2600 megawatt reduction in usage. Had that not happened, we would have had some episodic load reduction. That was extraordinary," said Newsom.
California set a new record for electricity demand Tuesday and for the 8th day in a row, a flex alert has been issued for Wednesday until 9 p.m.
"Close the drapes, blinds to the extent you can and pre-cool your home and make sure that thermostat is above 78 degrees. Still feels cool beyond words. I walked in 78 degrees and felt like i needed a jacket," said Newsom.
Some Eyewitness News viewers sharing on Twitter what they did to conserve.
Nicole Jones-Dion says her family "turned the AC up to 79, turned off our computers and tv, and played board games instead." And grit and grace saying they "turned off unnecessary outdoor/indoor lights, didn't use stove and oven to make dinner, limited tech use and set their thermostat at 79 degrees. Another viewer went a step further using candles to light their home during the flex alert.
California reached a level three emergency Tuesday and so far, a level two is predicted for Wednesday. while attending a conference in Los Angeles, Governor Newsom defended his decision to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open.
"We will stack diablo and as we move all these renewables we will stress test them in the extremes and we won't turn Diablo off until we know that we are on the other side of that extreme teething so that's the difference here. It's the insurance policy," said Newsom.
