Texas, California power grids pass heatwave test for now

Texas and California have passed a major heat wave test that stressed their power systems this week with record demand amid scorching weather.

In parts of several Western states like California, Arizona and Nevada, temperatures topped 110 degrees Fahrenheit for much of this week.

Power grid operators in Texas and California urged consumers to conserve energy to reduce strain on the electric system and avoid outages as homes and businesses kept air conditioners cranked up.

Over the past year, both Texas and California have imposed rotating or controlled outages to prevent more widespread collapses of their power systems like during the heatwave in California in August 2020 and the brutal freeze in Texas this past February that caused several days of blackouts and left millions without power throughout the states.

As both grids kept calls for conservation in effect for Friday, temperatures, power demand and prices were all lower in both states compared with earlier in the week.