Californians Break Energy Consumption Record

Summer suddenly became hot in California over the past few days, and Californians are cranking up the air conditioners--setting a record for energy use on Monday:

Californians set a dubious record Monday: They used more electricity than ever before.

The state's Independent System Operator, which runs the transmission grid, said the record hit at 4:26 p.m. when usage peaked at 44,042 megawatts, beating the 43,609 mark set on July 12, 1999.

The figures cover the state's three investor-owned utilities and don't include entities like the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

At a time when officials have warned that electricity supplies may run thin in the next year or so, the ISO said the record represented good news and bad news. On the one hand, California got through the day without even a whiff of rolling blackouts, unlike three years ago.

Even though the weather has been hot, the story points out, the heat has been moderate in comparison to how it can be--meaning that every kilowatt available should be onlinee if blackouts are to be avoided, and that the State should be aggressively pursuing new energy sources.

UPDATE: Tuesday Broke Monday's Record

UPDATE UPDATE: Another day, another record...