California faces another day of grid-straining extreme heat

By JOHN ANTCZAK and BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Operators of California’s electricity grid say a miscommunication led to a small number of power outages as the system was under great strain. The head of the California Independent System Operator says the miscommunication occurred Tuesday afternoon with Northern California Power Agency. The agency says a dispatcher misinterpreted an order from grid operators to be prepared to institute rotating outages and immediately initiated shutdowns. Eliott Mainzer says an emergency conservation message sent to cellphones had an immediate effect on reducing the grid’s strain and brought the state back from the edge. Mainzer says the same level of cooperation was needed Wednesday afternoon.