Last summer, California was teetering on the edge of rolling blackouts and power outages due to the excessive and prolonged heat. As another heat wave bears down, state energy regulators and utility companies said California is in a much different situation this time. "We are in good shape and we will get through next week with very little grid stress," said Severin Borenstein, UC Berkeley faculty director of the Energy Institute of Haas. Borenstein also sits on the board of the California Independent System Operator.He said Californians can thank the extreme winter weather for keeping the lights on.The record snowmelt running into the rivers and through powerhouses will generate an abundance of hydroelectricity, Borenstein said. "We have more good news from the rainfall we had during the winter and snowpack giving us a lot of hydropower, much more than we had last year," Borenstein said. Utility companies use dozens of reservoirs and powerhouses.| VIDEO | The US produced more electricity from renewable sources than coal in 2022. Clean power still lags well behind climate goalsThe Pacific, Gas and Electric Co. reports hydropower from its 67 powerhouses will more than double this year to 20 percent. In 2021, it was 10 percent and 11 percent in 2022. SMUD said its hydropower usage has also dramatically increased from its nine powerhouses."Because we can store water in our reservoirs, we can release water on demand and that helps us beat the peak periods of summer when we have high demand," said Paul Moreno with PG&E.Utility companies said hydropower is clean, cost-effective and valuable. "One of the good benefits of hydropower is we can quickly ramp up and ramp down production and even turn it on 24 hours a day in the summer as needed," Moreno said. "Wind and solar are entirely weather dependent."This means while the temperatures stay in the triple-digits, the power grid will stay online. "It's very unlikely we're going to see any system emergencies or pleas to ask people to reduce their electricity uses," Borenstein said. Energy leaders said even though the power grid is in good shape, it doesn't mean you should ignore saving electricity yourself.Keep AC units running at 78 and above, don't wash clothes or run the dishwasher during the peak times of 4 to 8 p.m.Wear light clothing to stay cool.