Energy prices and usage are spiking across the Southwest as a record-setting heat wave beats down on states from California to Texas.
State grid operators are hiking prices or scheduling rolling brownouts to relieve pressure from the grid as people strain their air conditioners in triple-digit heat. (RELATED: California Was Warned Months Ago Its Grid Could Buckle In The Heat. Now It’s Happening)
The California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO), the state’s grid operator, warned residents to cut back on energy use Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon during peak hours from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Limiting energy use from air conditioning, washers, dryers and other appliances will reduce the risk of rotating power outages, ISO said in a Monday statement.
Texans are avoiding the rolling brownouts and blackouts threatening California, but residents of the Lone Star State are paying premiums on their energy bills to stay cool during the heat wave. Texans paid the highest price for energy since August 2015, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Temperatures in Phoenix may reach well into the triple digits Tuesday with a forecast pegged at 118 degrees Fahrenheit. The city was placed under an excessive heat warming Monday and it will not be lifted until late Wednesday. Experts predict that Arizona’s energy usage will break records set in June 2017, azfamily.com reported.
Energy demand peaked at an all-time high in Reno, Nevada, two weeks ago at 1,875 megawatts of electricity used in 101-degree weather on July 12. The record topped the 1,842 megawatts used on July 28, 2016, Fox 11 Reno reported.
Temperatures in Las Cruces, New Mexico, hit a record 104 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday. The local school district cancelled its bus service on the first day of the school week, deciding the risk of children overheating on their ride to school was too great, The Las Cruces News Sun reported.
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