Flex Alert issued as SoCal heat wave strains power grid

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (KABC) -- Southland residents were urged to conserve energy on Monday as the heat wave puts a strain on the state's power grid.

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) declared a Flex Alert for Southern California from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday.

The ISO is asking people to voluntarily conserve electricity. This includes setting your air conditioning thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, turning off unneeded lighting and not using major appliances like washers and dryers.

This will be the first time we will have a major energy supply demand mixed in with the potential strain from the Porter Ranch leak.

"We're concerned about today. There is a lot of energy being consumed by customers throughout the day, and one of the big concern is equipment stress, which we are also seeing," said Steve Conroy with SoCal Edison.

The heat has already been blamed for some of the outages reported by Southern California Edison.

More than 3,000 customers were reported without power in Los Angeles County, and more than 2,000 customers were reported without power in Orange County. Equipment failure brought on by the heat was said to be the main cause.

MORE: List of cooling centers in SoCal

Approximately 1,000 people in Northridge lost power Sunday night. Officials said power has since been restored.

Fore more information on Flex Alerts, visit www.flexalert.org.

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