PC: CNBC

In response to charges that California couldn’t maintain the power, California Governor Gavin Newsom stated on Wednesday that the state avoided issuing rolling blackout orders when electricity consumption peaked this month due to the intense heat.

The governor claimed in an interview with CNBC’s Yasmin Khorram that the state’s electricity demand almost reached a record 52,000 megawatts during the heat wave and that California’s initiatives to speed up the transition to clean energy have added about 4,000 megawatts to the grid that weren’t present two years ago.

That just proves that we need to speed this shift along more quickly than merely keeping up with Mother Nature, according to Newsom. And we’re determined to carry it out.

According to Newsom, the media and Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis “wished” blackouts had occurred because “they want to undermine our green energy transition,” noting that California failed to maintain power during the heat wave.

They want to drill more and actually cause greater damage, according to Newsom, who added, “They want to double down on foolish. “And get us deeper into the mess we created and are trying to escape, where the hot is getting much hotter, the dry is getting much drier, and the extremes that are self evident, related to climate change, not just here in California but throughout the western United States and around the world.”

Newsom boasts California avoided rolling blackouts in extreme heat, says anti-green critics want to ‘double down on stupid’
PC: CNBC

So, Newsom continued, “we want to find a solution for it. “We don’t want to support the issue we’re attempting to solve. We desire to abandon fossil fuels.

The governor’s comments come at a time when electrical grids in areas like California are becoming more susceptible to climatic calamities like heat waves, storms, and wildfires. California has shut down a number of gas power plants in recent years, which has made the state more dependent on solar energy. The state has set a goal to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2045.

The state has made significant efforts to prevent rolling blackouts, according to Newsom, including increasing battery storage and extending the lifespan of backup generators. Recent approval of $54 billion in climate investment by state lawmakers included limits on oil and gas production and a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 85% by 2045.

In August, the state passed legislation banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks beginning in 2035. This regulation will force automakers to accelerate the production of cleaner cars and trucks starting in 2026 until only zero-emission cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs are permitted for sale after that point.