Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks at a press conference Sept. 8 in Olympia. He reaffirmed his state's alliance with California in fighting climate change.

Gov. Jay Inslee said Sept. 8 that Washington and California are united to combat climate change, as California grid operators asked people to conserve electricity during a heat wave.

Inslee spoke at a press conference in Olympia shortly before voluntary conservation took effect in California. Californians were requested to set thermostats at 78 degrees and not use major appliances between 3 and 10 p.m.

Grid operators were unsure how much wind and solar power would be generated during peak demand in the afternoon and evening.

Inslee said the root of the problem was climate change. “I’m glad we have a state like California that is working in tandem with us to fight climate change,” he said.

The California Independent System Operator sent text alerts advising residents to “pre-cool” their homes and run appliances earlier in the day.

The system asked residents to begin conserving energy an hour earlier and an hour later than on previous days.

The hours were extended largely because of uncertainty over how much renewable energy would be produced, the system’s president and CEO, Elliot Mainzer, said at a press conference.

He credited voluntary conservation with preventing blackouts over the past week. In the future, ratepayers may have to be offered incentives to agree in advance to have power cut back, he said.

“You don’t want to be in a situation where you call out for voluntary conservation at such levels,” he said. “You want to make it more rigorous and make it more automated. And I think that’s what you’re going to see happen here.”

To guard against rotating power outages, California reactivated four natural-gas fired power plants. Since 2015, California has cut its capacity to generate electricity with natural gas by 58%, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

The drought has also reduced the state’s ability to produce hydropower, according to the EIA.

Washington law will require electric utilities to supply only renewable energy by 2045. This must be accomplished without new hydropower projects.

Inslee said the state will invest billions of dollars on “clean energy.”

“Climate change is eating us alive. Climate deniers have been shown to be totally wrong and dangerous,” he said. “We need to stop digging the hole by hooking up to fossil fuels.”