Save energy now: California grid in danger after Oregon wildfire knocks out power lines Sacramento Bee 2 hrs ago Daniel Hunt, Dale Kasler, and Vincent Moleski The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Bee Jul. 10—California's grid operator issued a plea for Californians to conserve energy usage Saturday after a fire in southern Oregon tripped interstate transmission lines, siphoning a "significant" amount of power needed as California endured the strongest heat wave of the summer. The California Independent System Operator said during a Saturday news conference that three transmission lines on the California-Oregon Intertie were taken offline by the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, and the state has lost as many as 4,000 megawatts of power into California's grid.