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Scattered power outages were reported across Southern California Sunday, as an extreme heat wave caused temperatures to soar into the triple-digit digits. Nearly 1,200 customers lost power Sunday afternoon in Studio City after at least one circuit went out, according to City News Service. The outage, which was first reported just before 2 p.m. Sunday, was centered east of Laurel Canyon Boulevard. According to LADWP spokesperson Kim Hughes, power has yet to be restored to the neighborhood.
Southern California Edison also reported a number of outages due to the heat. According to Edison's automated reporting system, power is currently out for more than 1,000 accounts in Pomona, 79 in Culver City, 105 in Pico Rivera, 223 in Compton, 198 in Long Beach and 87 accounts in Thousand Oaks.
The California ISO, which operates the majority of California's wholesale power grid, has issued a Flex Alert for Monday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. due to the heat wave. The ISO issues Flex Alerts urging consumers to conserve power when the electricity grid is under stress because of generation or transmission outages, or from persistent hot temperatures.
"We want people to be very mindful of their energy use and to conserve as much as they can," Hughes told LAist, adding that power conservation will be "even more critical" tomorrow, when businesses are back open.
Looking for ways to conserve energy around your house tomorrow? Try running appliances during off hours (or better yet, giving them a break for the day), and making sure to unplug unused "energy vampires," like kitchen appliances and hair dryers. Keep your doors and windows closed to prevent the loss of cooled air and maximize your AC. Lowering your blinds can also help your house stay cool.
"Conservation can help minimize the tremendous strain on the equipment and and infrastructure used to deliver electricity to homes and business," Southern California Edison spokesperson Maureen Brown said.
The city and county of Los Angeles also operate a network of cooling centers across the region, and a number of locations will be open for extended hours on Sunday and Monday night, so Angelenos without access to air conditioning can visit and cool off. You can find the full list of Cooling Center locations here.
