The difference is we’re (mostly) equipped to handle temperatures like what there seeing now. The NorthWest isn’t just seeing record temperatures for June or July, they’re seeing ALL-TIME record temperatures. Like not in recorded history at that location temperatures. Lots of places up around Seattle don’t have AC, they’re not set up for temps like this because they don’t get them. 112*F in Portland? That’s literally never happened before.
When I moved into the dorms at UCSD there was a heat wave. Temps were in the low 100’s. For where I’m at in Northern California that’s not a big deal. Certainly not record breaking for Sacramento. But for La Jolla that’s crazy. Same kinda deal, lots of places don’t even have AC down there because 99.9% of the time you don’t even need to think about it. People there died from heat causes at temperatures lower than the average temps around here.
The power grid operators get a little less sympathy. I get it, this doesn’t happen very often. Or at least it didn’t used to. But you should be prepared for more than just business as usual. Like Texas and the cold snap and snow they had last winter. Does it happen very often? No. But in Texas it had happened to a smaller extent before. And the technology to deal with it is definitely out there. The NW right now I understand a little more, like I said, they’re breaking all-time records. It gets pretty hot where I’m at in California, and they’re tying our all time highs in some places up there. So yeah, some things that don’t normally happen (like rolling blackouts) are gonna happen, because that’s where you’re at right now.
Our grid in the US is pretty crappy though. No one wants to pay for upgrades, the infrastructure is old and outdated. Better tech is out there but the energy CEO’s would rather line their pockets and pay off the shareholders. Same crap with PG&E here. Raise the rates to pay for the inspections they should have been doing the whole time to prevent burning up whole communities. Paradise burned because a 97 year old tower failed. A tower built in 1921. Like most places still didn’t have electricity at that point. Maybe could have seen that coming for a couple decades?