The office of the governor warned that millions of Californians could experience power cuts this summer due to extreme weather events.
The state is facing a significant shortfall in its capacity that could result in widespread losses of power, officials said during an online briefing on Friday.
The grid could be lacking between 1,700 and 5,000 megawatts this year. The official said that the impact would be between 1 million and 4 million people in the state, but only after an extreme event.
Governor Newson's office did not respond to Insider's request for further comment outside normal working hours.
The state of California will have a shortfall of over 1,700 MW by the year 2025, according to officials from the California Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, California Independent System Operator and the governor.
California is vulnerable to adverse weather events, particularly wildfires, with Predictive Services projecting an above-normal significant fire potential in northern California this summer. California is predicted to experience 150 days a year of high wildfire potential.
The state wants to push away from fossil fuels with the goal of becoming carbon-free by 2045 and has a requirement to build up to 6GW of new renewable and storage solutions annually.
The officials told reporters that recent efforts to reduce carbon reliance have been hampered by supply chain disruptions.
Mark Rothleder, chief operating officer at the California ISO grid operator, said that they needed to make sure they had enough resources in place and operational before they let some retirements go.
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