With California in the grip of one of the worst heat waves in years, state power officials Wednesday continued to warn of the possibility of rolling blackouts and urged customers to conserve electricity.
The heat wave is expected to continue through Thursday. On Tuesday, cities across Southern California set records for the day, including, Long Beach (100 degrees), Burbank (109), UCLA (97), Anaheim (105), Santa Ana (106) and Woodland Hills (112).
The National Weather Service said temperatures won’t be quite as high Wednesday, but extended an excessive heat warning to valley and inland areas. Highs in downtown Los Angeles are expected to be in the 90s, while many valley locations will likely experience triple-digit readings again.
The heat is also making life harder for firefighters, who are battling big blazes across the state, including near Lake Piru in Ventura County and in the Mojave National Preserve, where the Dome fire has burned more than 43,000 acres and destroyed swaths of Joshua trees.
Officials say a statewide flex alert — a call for voluntary electricity conservation — will begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Tuesday evening, the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) called off power outages that had been anticipated statewide, crediting conservation efforts by consumers for the second day in a row with averting rolling blackouts that were implemented Friday and Saturday nights.
Though statewide blackouts were avoided, heat-related equipment issues left thousands without power in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday afternoon, Cal-ISO, which runs the electric grid for most of the state, declared a Stage 2 emergency — one of several it has issued in the past weeks — asking customers to save energy.
In a statement, Cal-ISO said that, in addition to consumer conservation efforts, the grid had benefited from some imported energy and resources from wind plants.
“Californians made tonight a success,” said Cal-ISO President Steve Berberich. “Everyone pulled together and responded to our warning with action to avoid any interruption in electricity supplies.”
On Monday, officials had warned of blackouts affecting as many as 3 million people, but officials ended up canceling that warning, saying improved weather conditions and conservation efforts reduced demand on the power grid.
