Record heat will scorch the West starting this weekend, likely taxing California’s power grid for days. Temperatures will rise 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (11 to 17 Celsius) above normal from the Pacific Northwest through California, toppling records and lasting into next week, said Lara Pagano, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. The heat comes a week after the California Independent System Operator, which runs the power grid, struggled to meet peak demand as highs reached about 110 degrees in many areas for days. “California ISO is going to be stressed next week,” said Jim Rouiller, lead meteorologist at the Energy Weather Group. “It is going to be a growing problem to maintain power in the grid.” The most populous U.S. state flirted with a repeat of historic rotating outages that […]