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As a brutal heat wave cooks the West ahead of Labor Day, California’s power grid manager is calling on electric vehicle owners to avoid peak-hour charging. The request is part of a broader effort to get the state’s grid up and running, with residents heating up their air conditioners to get through several massively hot days.
At least through September 2, the The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is asking residents to conserve energy by “setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, if health permits, by turning off major appliances and turning off unnecessary lights” between 4 and 9 p.m. Pacific. “They should also avoid charging electric vehicles” during that time frame, he added A nonprofit that oversees California’s grid and energy market.
CAISO warned in a separate note that it may make additional calls to maintain power “through the Labor Day weekend” in response to triple-digit forecasts. The warning came as Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state emergency to increase energy production in the state.
The rising temperatures and questions of protection come as the California Climate Board clears the way to ban sales of new gasoline-powered passenger cars. The graduated regulation won’t fully kick in for more than 12 years, but given California’s recent history of summer blackouts, it has raised questions about whether the state’s grid can safely power millions of additional EVs. Across the US, the rise of EVs will require heavy investments from utilities and grid operators to increase capacity.
Time is running out, but the rule is seen by climate experts as a critical step in curbing greenhouse gas emissions that are making heat waves worse and more frequent for California and others that may follow his lead. Gas-powered passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks account for more than half of US transportation emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It’s appropriate for the fifth largest economy to announce something like this in 2035,” Dr. William Collins, director of Berkeley Lab’s Department of Climate and Ecosystem Sciences and director of the Carbon Negative Initiative, told TechCrunch after the board approved the rule.
Dr. Ann Lusk, a researcher and lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a call with TechCrunch this week that the timing was right.
“We need the policy for mobile source air pollution right away,” she said. However, due to other issues such as regional anxiety and income inequality, “I think 2035 is about right,” she explained, citing the time needed for automakers to release more affordable EVs, for more used EVs to hit secondary markets and for the US to become offshore. It will increase the charging infrastructure. To that point: A recent JD Power survey cited poorly maintained chargers and high prices as two key barriers to EV adoption.
Crucially, the 2035 ban includes an exception for new plug-in hybrids. It also does not ban the sale of used gas-powered vehicles, nor does it ban them from the road.
In the meantime, it will be hot as hell and hotter. California maintains cooling centers and advisories for residents suffering from extreme heat, which is the deadliest weather in the United States, according to the National Weather Service.
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