[khuey]

Most blackouts in California are not driven by electricity shortages but rather by hot and strong wind events that lead electric utilities to shut off certain transmission lines in rural areas to avoid sparking wildfires. This distinction probably doesn't matter much to those who have their power cut but it is important to actually fixing the root cause.

There was a particularly nasty heat wave in the western US in 2020 that did lead to load shedding due to a shortage of electricity. That was the first time California had load shedding since 2011 IIRC, and it did not repeat in 2021.