Searing Heat From Texas to California Strains Power Grids (3)

摘要

Heat waves in Texas and California are threatening to push electrical grids to the brink, prompting the specter of blackouts yet again in the two most populous U.S. states.Texas officials are asking customers to conserve power as generating plants with a combined capacity of 12.2 gigawatts - or enough to run about 2.4 million homes - are down for repairsamid the heat. California’s grid, meanwhile, is being swamped with demand as temperatures are forecast to exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in the coming days.The searing weather marks the first heat-related stress tests of the year for U.S. power grids as a historic drought grips the western half of the nation. It comes 10 months after Californiaresorted to rolling blackouts last summer, briefly plunging more than a million people into darkness. In February, much of Texas was left without power for days during a frigid winterstorm that paralyzed power plants and left more than 100 people dead.