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ClimateQuiet 11d · day 13

California survives hottest August on record without power outages

Battery storage expansion and renewable energy growth helped the grid handle record heat without Flex Alerts or rolling blackouts.

newest coverage 11d agosummary written 12d ago9 pieces638 likes & upvotes16 comments NewswiresMastodonBluesky

What to know

  • California managed record August heat without issuing Flex Alerts or rotating outages—a dramatic reversal from 2020's emergency blackouts affecting hundreds of thousands.
  • Battery storage capacity increased from under 100 megawatts in 2020 to enough to handle peak evening demand, storing daytime solar power for release when air-conditioning demand peaks.
  • Renewable energy now supplies over 50% of California's electricity (achieved in May 2026), with rooftop solar installations and regional grid integration enabling the state to absorb extreme demand without natural gas.
  • California aims to add 20,000–25,000 megawatts of battery capacity by 2045 to achieve carbon neutrality as extreme heat becomes more frequent.

“California has had a wealth of solar growth in the last five years. It makes sense that they would reach this goal.”

Abby Lestina, Grid Status analyst · LA Times ↗

Jayme Ackemann California ISO spokespersonAbby Lestina Grid Status analystCalifornia Independent System Operator Grid operator

California survives hottest August on record without power outages
Mercury News

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 3 pieces in 3h at Sep 11, 5 AM; 9 pieces over 13 days (4 articles · 5 posts) Sep 11, 5 AM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 2, Mastodon 1Sep 11, 8 AM — quietSep 11, 11 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Newswires 1, Mastodon 1Sep 11, 2 PM — quietSep 11, 5 PM — quietSep 11, 8 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Sep 11, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 12, 2 AM — quietSep 12, 5 AM — quietSep 12, 8 AM — quietSep 12, 11 AM — quietSep 12, 2 PM — quietSep 12, 5 PM — quietSep 12, 8 PM — quietSep 12, 11 PM — quietSep 13, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Bluesky 1Sep 13, 5 AM — quietSep 13, 8 AM — quietSep 13, 11 AM — quietSep 13, 2 PM — quietSep 13, 5 PM — quietSep 13, 8 PM — quietSep 13, 11 PM — quietSep 14, 2 AM — quietSep 14, 5 AM — quietSep 14, 8 AM — quietSep 14, 11 AM — quietSep 14, 2 PM — quietSep 14, 5 PM — quietSep 14, 8 PM — quietSep 14, 11 PM — quietSep 15, 2 AM — quietSep 15, 5 AM — quietSep 15, 8 AM — quietSep 15, 11 AM — quietSep 15, 2 PM — quietSep 15, 5 PM — quietSep 15, 8 PM — quietSep 15, 11 PM — quietSep 16, 2 AM — quietSep 16, 5 AM — quietSep 16, 8 AM — quietSep 16, 11 AM — quietSep 16, 2 PM — quietSep 16, 5 PM — quietSep 16, 8 PM — quietSep 16, 11 PM — quietSep 17, 2 AM — quietSep 17, 5 AM — quietSep 17, 8 AM — quietSep 17, 11 AM — quietSep 17, 2 PM — quietSep 17, 5 PM — quietSep 17, 8 PM — quietSep 17, 11 PM — quietSep 18, 2 AM — quietSep 18, 5 AM — quietSep 18, 8 AM — quietSep 18, 11 AM — quietSep 18, 2 PM — quietSep 18, 5 PM — quietSep 18, 8 PM — quietSep 18, 11 PM — quietSep 19, 2 AM — quietSep 19, 5 AM — quietSep 19, 8 AM — quietSep 19, 11 AM — quietSep 19, 2 PM — quietSep 19, 5 PM — quietSep 19, 8 PM — quietSep 19, 11 PM — quietSep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 5 AM — quietSep 20, 8 AM — quietSep 20, 11 AM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 5 PM — quietSep 20, 8 PM — quietSep 20, 11 PM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 5 AM — quietSep 21, 8 AM — quietSep 21, 11 AM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 5 PM — quietSep 21, 8 PM — quietSep 21, 11 PM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 5 AM — quietSep 22, 8 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quiet 1
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  1. 1

    Media reports California's grid resilience transformation

    Coverage highlights that California has not issued a Flex Alert since 2022 and has not implemented rotating outages since 2020, despite record August heat. The grid succeeded through battery storage paired with renewables, Western US integration, and rooftop solar growth.

    “In about five years, we have vastly increased the amount of battery storage that is available to us, and that is great news.”
    — Jayme Ackemann, California ISO spokesperson · source
    1. 4 outlets How California survived the hottest August ever, without Flex Alerts

      first by Mastodon, 12d ago · also Mercury News, LA Times California, LA Times

      1 more headline
    • ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org

      LA Times: The surprising reason California survived record summer heat without blackouts "...In fact, the state has not issued a Flex Alert since 2022, and it has not implemented rotating outages since 2020. Over the last few years, California has quietly but dramatically increased the resiliency of its electrical grid through a significant…

      ai6yr@m.ai6yr.orgMastodon12d ago313▲view on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
    • priscillapage.bsky.social

      a fun thing about me is that I worry about the grid a lot, so this was a very reassuring read. kinda nice to get some good news for once.

      priscillapage.bsky.socialBluesky11d ago133▲view on Bluesky ↗
    • chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca

      the REAL story under this really good news story about solar and batteries keeping the lights on in California even through extreme heat is that the oil companies... Yes the Oil Companies... were lying to you when they said solar and wind and renewables and batteries would never be reliable and too intermittent to provide cheap and available…

      chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caMastodon12d ago72▲view on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    California passes highest peak demand of year without outages — The grid reached more than 50,000 megawatts of demand, approaching the all-time peak record set in September 2022, while maintaining stability without emergency alerts or rotating outages.

  3. background

    California declares Stage 3 Emergency during August heat wave — The California Independent System Operator declared a Stage 3 Emergency and hundreds of thousands of households lost power in rolling outages. At the time, the system had less than 100 megawatts of battery storage available.

What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 5 · verbatim