Comment by enos

kernel_task is due to high temperature on the left thunderbolt ports caused by charging. Plug your charger into the right side instead and it'll go away in about 15 seconds.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/363337/how-to-find...

Took me a long time to figure out too. I had the same frustration, that there is no way to debug the problem. A debug kernel is a PITA.