Intense SoCal Heatwave Sparks Cooling Demand Surge, Testing Grid Reliability

The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories across California’s Central Valley and coastal areas, including the Bay Area and Los Angeles, with more severe extreme heat warnings in parts of Southern California. Cooling demand is expected to soar over the next several days, putting pressure on the power grid, particularly in the evening as solar generation declines.

Bloomberg reports that Los Angeles-area temperatures are forecast to reach 85F to 105F, roughly 10 to 15 degrees above normal. San Francisco could hit 86 degrees Wednesday, while Sacramento is expected to reach 100 degrees Thursday.

The California Independent System Operator forecasts that peak power demand will hit 47,379 megawatts Wednesday, below the September 2022 record of 52,061 megawatts.

CAISO, which operates the power grid serving roughly 80% of California and a small part of Nevada, forecasts Thursday’s peak at around 45,183 megawatts.

Wholesale power prices are already reflecting the incoming surge in cooling demand. Southern California’s SP15 hub saw its day-ahead price for Tuesday’s 6 p.m. hour reach $87.69 per megawatt-hour, the highest hourly reading in a little over a week. Grid monitoring company Arcus Power compiled the data on its NRGStream platform.

Forecasts from Bloomberg show that maximum temperatures in California will peak Thursday at around 95F before sliding to about 75F by mid-month.