California ISO says power demand reaching record levels amid heat wave

(Reuters) – Demand for power is approaching record levels in California amid soaring temperatures, prompting the state grid operator to step up its calls for consumers to reduce electricity use in the afternoons and evenings to avoid outages.

“We are facing a load forecast of 48,817 megawatts and energy deficits between 2,000 and 4,000 megawatts for Monday, resulting in the highest likelihood of rotating outages we have seen so far this summer,” California Independent System Operator (ISO) said in a statement.

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)