Subscribe to CalMatters’ free daily newsletter to get news and commentary that holds your elected leaders accountable.
By clicking subscribe, you agree to the Terms.
Today, California’s power grid is poised to face its biggest test of the summer so far as a record-setting heat wave continues to boil the drought-parched, fire-stricken state.
As residents crank up their air conditioners to deal with yet another day of triple-digit temperatures, peak demand could shoot past 51,000 megawatts — surpassing the record of 50,270 megawatts set in 2006, the state’s electric grid operator said Monday.
And, unless Californians double or triple their current conservation efforts, the state’s energy supply could fall between 400 and 3,400 megawatts short of demand between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., resulting in a repeat of 2020’s rolling blackouts, warned Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator. (The state also risked possible power shutoffs Monday evening, but ultimately avoided them.)
Today marks the seventh straight day that Californians have been under a statewide Flex Alert, which calls for voluntary energy conservation between 5 and 9 p.m. The timeframe was extended to 10 p.m. on Monday.
The grid operator also declared a Stage 1 energy emergency alert for Monday and today, which signals that all resources have already been committed or are expected to be used and that deficiencies are forecasted. Stage 2, which was implemented Monday evening, triggers additional urgency measures — such as activating emergency gas generators — and Stage 3 could mean rolling blackouts.
Newsom — whose administration has been calling big commercial firms and asking them to limit their energy use, according to the Sacramento Bee — on Friday expanded the emergency order he issued last week to help free up additional supplies. This angered some environmental justice advocates, who argued that some of its provisions — including allowing for expanded use of backup generators — would disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities.
Newsom on Friday also proclaimed a state of emergency in Siskiyou County, which is dealing with an onslaught of wildfires, including the Mountain Fire and the Mill Fire. As of Sunday morning, the Mill Fire had burned more than 4,000 acres, killed at least two people and injured at least three others, according to state fire officials. The fire prompted thousands of evacuations and destroyed or damaged more than 100 structures — including the historically Black community of Lincoln Heights in the town of Weed.
The confluence of crises comes as California prepares to lose its director of emergency response: Newsom announced Friday that Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, will retire at the end of the year after a decade on the job, making him the latest high-ranking official to leave the governor’s administration.
The coronavirus bottom line: As of Thursday, California had 10,291,286 confirmed cases (+1.9% from previous day) and 94,239 deaths (+0.01% from previous day), according to state data now updated just twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. CalMatters is also tracking coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
California has administered 79,642,984 vaccine doses, and 72% of eligible Californians are fully vaccinated.
Newsom over the long weekend signed some of the highest-profile bills sent to his desk by state lawmakers: On Labor Day, he gave his stamp of approval to a controversial, first-in-the-nation bill to create a state-run council to regulate wages and working conditions for the fast food industry, which employs more than half a million non-unionized workers across the Golden State. “California is committed to ensuring that the men and women who have helped build our world-class economy are able to share in the state’s prosperity,” Newsom said in a statement. This law “gives hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry.”
Newsom signed another pile of bills into law on Friday, including the centerpiece of his environmental agenda: taking a key step to extend the lifespan of Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant, by as much as five years. “Climate change is causing unprecedented stress on California’s energy system and I appreciate the Legislature’s action to maintain energy reliability as the State accelerates the transition to clean energy,” Newsom said in a signing statement.
When it comes to signing or vetoing bills, Newsom has a lot of decisions to make before the Sept. 30 constitutional deadline: As of Sunday, the governor had more than 900 measures on his desk, according to veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli. Here’s a closer look at a few noteworthy ones:
With $400 million, you could buy about 480 single-family homes in California at July’s median price of $833,910 — or you could bankroll a sizable portion of the campaigns behind two dueling sports betting measures on the Golden State’s November ballot. As of last week, the four main campaign committees on both sides of Propositions 26 and 27 had raised more than $402 million, according to a California Target Book analysis. That’s far and above the record $226 million spent in 2020 by committees supporting and opposing an initiative to exempt gig-economy companies from a controversial California labor law — and exemplifies just how expensive fights at the ballot box have become in the nation’s largest media market.
Skipping ahead to 2024, Californians will decide whether to repeal Article 34, a provision added to the state Constitution in 1950 requiring the approval of a majority of a community’s voters before the government can build public housing for low-income residents. The measure qualified for either the June or November 2024 ballot after two-thirds of lawmakers in both the state Assembly and Senate greenlighted it before the legislative session ended last week. This marks the fourth time lawmakers have asked voters to repeal or weaken the 1950 provision that sailed to victory following a real-estate funded campaign that appealed to racist fears about neighborhood integration and to concerns about socialism, according to the Los Angeles Times. The three prior efforts — the last of which was in 1993 — failed by large margins. The California Association of Realtors, which supported the 1993 measure, is also expected to contribute financially to the 2024 campaign.
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Newsom has denounced two Republican governors as “bullies,” but that may be the pot calling the kettle black.
This is the time to transform sports betting: With sports gambling on the November ballot, California is in a unique position to make the industry fairer, safer and more reliable for bettors, argues Quemars Ahmed, former editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review.
Citing extreme heat, federal judge extends ban on Sacramento clearing homeless camps. // Sacramento Bee
Bass and Caruso have talked big on homelessness. Now they’re offering some details. // Los Angeles Times
Newsom quashes bill to provide more funding for Black students. // EdSource
How one Oakland school is using California’s billion-dollar investment in student mental health. // KQED
Should libraries be part of homeless solutions? San Diego thinks so. // San Diego Union-Tribune
California school district tries new way to retain teachers: low-cost apartments on school property. // CBS News
Milpitas school district asks parents to rent to struggling teachers. // Mercury News
Some Sacramento renters are forming unions as rent climbs. // Sacramento Bee
4,000 Google cafeteria workers quietly unionized during the pandemic. // Washington Post
Downtown San Jose struggling, but not like San Francisco, as workers say ‘nope’ to the office. // Mercury News
San Diego’s smaller workforce: Where did the workers go? // San Diego Union-Tribune
The U.S. is bringing chip-making home. Is California ready? // Mercury News
The front-runner in Oakland mayor’s race? There isn’t one. // San Francisco Chronicle
In the California desert, LGBTQ voters could sway a key House race. // New York Times
‘Frozen in animosity’: Do San Francisco City Hall politics need to be so toxic? // San Francisco Chronicle
How a gang rivalry led to the slaying of DA Jenkins’ relative, police say. // San Francisco Standard
California police officers have killed nearly 1,000 people in 6 years. // San Francisco Chronicle
Persistent medical staffing shortages in San Diego jails are causing lapses in care, driving down morale. // San Diego Union-Tribune
More than 2,000 L.A. patients unknowingly received a diluted dose of the Pfizer vaccine. // L.A. Taco
California biotech executive guilty in $77 million blood-testing scheme. // New York Times
Residents forced to sell homes as part of earthquake upgrade at largest reservoir in Santa Clara County. // Mercury News
California water agencies brace for Colorado River cuts. // Los Angeles Times
Central California shoulders the drought’s inequities. // Los Angeles Times
Poop and pee fueled the huge algae bloom in San Francisco Bay. Fixing the problem could cost $14 billion. // San Francisco Chronicle
California looks to spur e-bike adoption with new incentive program. // KPBS Public Media
Tips, insight or feedback? Email emily@calmatters.org.
Follow me on Twitter: @emily_hoeven
Subscribe to CalMatters newsletters here.
Follow CalMatters on Facebook and Twitter.
CalMatters is now available in Spanish on Twitter, Facebook and RSS.