SoCal residents urged to conserve power amid October heat wave – NBC Los Angeles

SoCal residents urged to conserve power amid October heat wave  NBC Los Angeles

The state is preparing before potentially issuing a flex alert. With excessive heat in the forecast for the next week, electrical demand is expected to soar as Southern California residents crank up their air conditioners, prompting power providers to urge customers to conserve wherever possible to help avoid outages. The California Independent System Operator, or Cal-ISO, which manages the state's power grid, has already issued a "Restricted Maintenance Operations'' notice for 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, urging suppliers "to avoid taking actions which may jeopardize generator and/or transmission availability.'' "We are not forecasting any supply shortfalls at this time, but wanted to prepare consumers in the event that we need to call a Flex Alert,'' according to a statement from the agency.

"We will continue to monitor forecasted demand and supply conditions and will provide additional updates as necessary.'' A Flex Alert is issued when Cal-ISO believes power demand may exceed supply. The alert is a voluntary call for conservation by residents. If conditions worsen, Cal-ISO could issue additional emergency alerts, potentially leading to rolling blackouts in the most critical power-shortage situations. Southern California Edison sent a message to customers Friday noting that the utility is "closely monitoring the electric system and preparing for the potential impacts of increased electrical demand.'' "We use every available resource to