PCG - PG&E -3% as California ISO says power loads could hit new highs

PG&E ( NYSE: PCG ) -2.9% in Tuesday's trading as California copes with a record-breaking heat wave, and power prices in California and other western states soar to their highest in more than two years ; Edison International ( EIX ) -1.9% but Sempra ( SRE ) +1.4% .

Power demand is expected to climb after the state narrowly avoided implementing rotating outages on Monday.

The California Independent System Operator urged consumers to conserve energy for a seventh straight day, with temperatures again forecast to reach into triple digits.

If demand for power exhausts the California grid's electric reserves, the ISO said it would instruct utilities to start imposing rotating outages for the first time since August 2020.

The ISO forecast demand would peak at 51,044 MW on Tuesday, topping the current record of 50,270 MW in 2006, before sliding to ~50K MW on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, power prices at the Palo Verde hub in Arizona and SP-15 in southern California rose to $850/MWh and $505/MWh, respectively, the highest levels since August 2020.

Last week, California's legislature passed a bill to keep PG&E's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open for five more years .

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