Who Turned Off the Lights? Heat Puts the Squeeze on California’s Power Grid
August 2020
NBC Los Angeles
Severin Borenstein, Faculty Director of the Energy Institute, shares with NBC Los Angeles his proposed solution to avoid a power grid overload during the heat wave.
“Borenstein, an economist by training, sees another approach that promises to be less costly and more quickly achievable: increasing use of incentive pricing to even out usage by charging less for electricity during low demand times, more during peak periods. ‘Price incentives, I think, change people’s habits.’ Is it a fair ask at a time when the COVID-19 crisis has so many working at home? ‘The alternative is rolling blackouts, right now, and that’s even worse.'”
Read More on Heat Wave Strain in The Fresno Bee, Times Herald, East Bay Times, Marin Independent Journal, Good Day Sacramento, and KCBS
Photo: Renee Byer, fresnobee.com