With the West Coast heat wave projected to intensify over the coming days, Governor Gavin Newsom is calling on Californians to limit power usage during peak times, and is urging businesses to use backup energy sources to relieve pressure on the grid.

In an Executive Order earlier this week, Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency, and temporarily suspended permitting requirements “that restrict the amount of power a facility may generate, restrict the amount of fuel that a facility may use, or impose air quality requirements that prevent the facility from generating additional power during peak demand hours from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.”

According to the Executive Order: “Any facility that operates in violation of the suspended permitting requirements must notify the relevant local air quality management district, the Energy Commission, and the Air Resources Board of its actions within 48 hours and report additional fuel use, additional hours of operation, and energy produced by that additional use and operation to the relevant local air quality management district, the Energy Commission, and the Air Resources Board within 30 days.”

The temporary suspension expires at 11:59 p.m. on August 20, 2020 (Thursday night).