California electricity regulators declared a “Flex Alert” on Wednesday, asking consumers to conserve electricity voluntarily between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. due to a shortage of power, as the state faced the possibility of rolling blackouts over the next several days.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this week, the California Independent System Operator warned that there could be Flex Alerts through Labor Day due to energy shortages as a heat wave — with no particular end in sight — swept across the western U.S.
Residents were asked not to use major appliances and to refrain from charging electric vehicles — a particularly ironic instruction, given that state regulators had just approved plans to ban almost all gasoline-powered vehicles and require electric vehicles by 2035.
A #FlexAlert is in effect for today, Aug. 31 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Help us reduce stress on the power grid by flexing your power with some of these tips. pic.twitter.com/q5peG1tS2S
— Flex Alert (@flexalert) August 31, 2022
The state lacks sufficient energy during peak demand because the wind and solar power required by “green” energy mandates cannot keep up with demand, and the state has been closing natural gas and nuclear power plants without replacing the lost power capacity.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
The worst heat wave of the year is presenting a critical test for California’s overtaxed power grid, with officials warning rolling blackouts are possible without major conservation efforts during a week of scorching temperatures.
Extreme heat is expected to grip the vast majority of California for at least six days, perhaps even longer.
…
California officials on Wednesday issued the first statewide Flex Alertduring this heat wave, as most of the state entered its first day of extreme heat in this wave. A second Flex Alert was issued for Thursday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who announced the electric vehicle mandate in 2020 just weeks after a similar power crisis — in which he had admonished Californians to “sober up” about the limits of solar and wind power — blamed this week’s heat wave on climate change.
On Wednesday, the California State Legislature voted to postpone plans to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant — the state’s last such plant — voting instead to float a $1.4 billion loan to the Pacific Gas & Electric Company to keep the plant open until 2030.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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