FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2020
Contact: Kathryn Phillips--916-893-8494 (mobile)
Rolling Blackouts Reveal Need to Accelerate Clean Energy Action
SACRAMENTO--This weekend California’s extraordinary heat wave resulted in rolling blackouts that left hundreds of thousands of California residents suddenly without electricity around the state.
In response, Governor Gavin Newsom met with key energy agencies on Sunday and subsequently sent a letter ordering those agencies to review their energy forecasting methods and the resource adequacy requirements that are meant to ensure that enough electricity is available to meet demand.
The governor’s letter also noted that the state “must do more and faster to prevent future outages as we continue to work to transform energy generation in our state to achieve our necessary goals to combat climate change.”
Statement from Kathryn Phillips, Director of Sierra Club California:
“These record-setting heat spells in California and throughout the planet are directly linked to the climate crisis. That crisis is driven by fossil fuel pollution--including gas for power plants--from the past and continuing to today.
“We need to keep cutting our dependence on gas in the power sector.
“The governor’s letter to the key state energy agencies--the Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Independent System Operator--is on target.
“Those agencies have the authority to do better. They have the authority to make sure utilities are deploying enough renewable energy and energy storage and using demand response to deliver electricity when it is needed and where it is needed, without unexpected interruption.
“They--and the utilities--need to step up and accelerate the transition to clean, renewable energy and they need to use all the tools: solar, wind, geothermal, battery storage, energy efficiency, demand response and more.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing nearly half a million members and supporters.