Weekend High Heat, Fire Weather Watches Issued by Weather Service
With consecutive days of temperatures in the 100s forecast, the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch and heat advisory for parts of Riverside, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties starting Friday morning through Saturday evening.
The weather service has also issued a fire weather watch for parts of Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties for the same period due to forecasted gusty winds and dry conditions.
“With excessive heat and dry conditions predicted through this weekend, our crews are prepared and are ready for heat-related outages or possible equipment issues that may occur,” said Jim Cherrie, SCE director of Grid Operations.
The high temperatures can create additional stress on the electrical grid as homes and businesses use their air conditioners throughout the day. Like a car engine that is running hard, the equipment can suffer the effects of high levels of electric use.
Energy conservation by all customers throughout the service territory will help avoid additional outages over the next couple of days. Some tips include setting thermostats to no lower than 78 degrees and closing drapes and blinds to keep out direct sunlight during hot periods. And this year, it is especially important to conserve because of the limited availability of natural gas from the SoCalGas Co.’s Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
SCE continues to offer several energy conservation programs such as Save Power Days which offer some bill savings. A Save Power Day has been called for Friday and Monday. Customers who are enrolled and voluntarily reduce their power usage from 2-6 p.m. will get credits on their electric bill.
Other ways customers can conserve energy include:
- Reduce electricity use between noon-6 p.m. — peak hours of energy use.
- Turn off unused appliances and equipment.
- Use electric fans instead of air conditioning when practical.
- Shut off lights when leaving a room.
- Avoid using evaporative coolers or humidifiers at the same time an air conditioner is running.
- Operate swimming pool equipment and energy-intensive appliances, such as dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, during early-morning and late-evening hours.
- Limit the opening and reopening of refrigerators, which are major users of electricity in most homes.
- When possible, businesses should shift power-intensive work processes to morning or late-evening hours.
Outages can be reported at 800-611-1911. Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
