Commodities
Home›Commodities›Energy›California heat wave boosts power demand and pressures…
California heat wave boosts power demand and pressures the grid
Los Angeles forecasts call for 85F to 105F temperatures, and the CAISO expects peak demand of 47,379 megawatts Wednesday.
The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories across California, with extreme heat warnings in parts of Southern California that are expected to drive a sharp rise in cooling demand over the next several days. The pressure on the state’s power system is likely to be most acute in the evening, when solar generation declines.
Forecasts cited by OilPrice indicate Los Angeles-area temperatures could range from 85F to 105F, about 10 to 15 degrees above normal, while San Francisco is expected to reach 86 degrees Wednesday and Sacramento could hit 100 degrees Thursday.
The California Independent System Operator projects peak power demand at 47,379 megawatts Wednesday, versus a September 2022 record of 52,061 megawatts. For Thursday, CAISO forecasts peak demand around 45,183 megawatts.
Wholesale power prices are already reflecting the expected surge in cooling demand, with Southern California’s SP15 hub showing a day-ahead price for the Tuesday 6 p.m. hour of $87.69 per megawatt-hour, the highest hourly reading in just over a week, according to data compiled on Arcus Power’s NRGStream platform.