California Officials Praise Renewables, Battery Storage for Grid Resilience Amid Heat Wave

After a few weeks of heat advisories and even devastating wildfires, California’s power grid has faced minimal disruptions. Officials are praising the state’s long-term focus on renewable energy infrastructure and battery storage for enhancing grid stability, even in the extreme heat.

“This was a good early test that we passed in very good shape,” said Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of California Independent System Operator (CAISO), as reported by The Sacramento Bee. “Investments in new clean energy and in dispatchable battery storage played a major role.”

As Dede Subakti, vice president of system operations at CAISO, explained on the company’s website, increasing temperatures can strain power grids. In addition to more households cranking up the heat and using more power, high temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit can also cause power plants to operate less efficiently, the Union of Concerned Scientists explained on its blog.

These issues can cause energy demand to exceed supply, leading to outages that put communities in more danger from the extreme temperatures. Grid operators may also trigger rotating power outages to different communities to reduce the strain on the grid and avoid larger, longer-lasting power disruptions.

But clean energy resources can improve grid resiliency by providing stored energy, and solar power can meet energy demand where it’s needed, alleviating some of the demand on the grid.

California is a leader of renewables in the U.S. As of 2023, about 54% of the state’s electricity generation came from renewables, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). California has set a target to reach 60% renewables by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2045.

In recent years, rolling blackouts have been an issue across the state during more frequent and intensifying heat waves. But California’s investments in renewable energy are helping to curb these outages.

“California’s power grid held up against prolonged record temperatures because of new clean energy resources, more battery storage, and enhanced coordination with state government — and the grid was also able to export energy to other states in need during this heat wave,” Subakti said.

^{The California Independent System Operator control room in Folsom, California on Sept. 21, 2022. California ISO / Facebook}

Earlier this year, in May, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced record solar power output, which reached 18,933 megawatts on May 13. This was a 20-fold increase compared to 2012. According to the governor’s office, clean energy exceeded grid demand for a record 34 days at the time.

As ABC7 News reported, officials have warned that extreme weather, like heat waves, will still pose threats to the grid without more actions to address the impacts of climate change.