2ND DAY OF ROLLING BLACKOUTS FOR CALIFORNIA

More than 270,000 California residents experienced a second round of rolling blackouts on Saturday.

PG&E said rotating outages began around 6:30 p.m. Power was restored to most customers around 9 p.m., PG&E said.

California ISO declared a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency around 6:28 p.m. due to increased demand, as well as the loss of a 470-megawatt power plant, according to a report from KCRA 3 News.

They also cite the loss of nearly 1,000 megawatts of wind power.

However, the system was ordered back online 20 minutes later at 6:48 p.m. as wind resources increased, California ISO said.

As of 8:20 p.m., there were nearly 70,000 residents still without power, according to the California Office of Emergency Service dashboard.

At its peak, 67,401 customers in San Joaquin County experienced the outage.

A Stage 3 Emergency is declared when the demand outpaces the available supply.

When this happens, grid operators tap electricity reserves to balance the grid, officials said.

The heat wave throughout the area increased electricity usage, leading to the strain on the power grid for the second night in a row.

The triple-digit heat is expected to extend into Wednesday, prompting KCRA 3 Weather Alerts for each day until then.

Residents are encouraged to conserve energy through the heat wave.

California ISO issued a Grid Warning Notice around noon Saturday. Rolling power outages would last one to two hours, but no customers will be impacted overnight, PG&E said.

On Friday, PG&E implemented rolling power outages that affected roughly 220,000 customers to relieve the strain on the power grid during the heatwave.

The last time the state ordered rolling outages was during an energy crisis in 2001.