People are running their air conditioners to keep cool. Transformers can overload, but the LADWP says so far there have been very few outages.
"During these past few, the peak of our outages we've had was about 6,000 customers out at any given time, and that's a really good number," said LADWP director John Dennis. "Obviously we want to get all of our customers restored right away, but our poles and cables and transformers are holding up very well."
Dennis says power supplies are ample and reserves are available.
"Usually we hit a peak on our power system at about 4 p.m. On a Friday, it looks like it's cooling off just a little bit and so our load is shaving off as we speak."
Many Los Angeles residents are doing their part to conserve energy.
"If I am at the house during the day, I just put everything on very low just to keep a cool breeze in the house, or just run a fan," said Ruben Sierra of Silver Lake.
Robin Smith and her dog Michael survived the heat by staying in the shade. When Smith is home, she's doing what many people are doing: waiting until after sundown to use large appliances and running the air conditioner only as needed.
"I have a window air conditioning unit. I use it as little as possible," she said.
Southern California Edison is urging its customers to get back their energy use to avoid the possibility of a power shortage.
The utility issued this statement:
"We are expecting high daytime and evening temperatures this weekend and Southern California Edison reminds customers of the importance of energy conservation throughout the day and evening hours."
Tips to conserve energy include:
-Set the thermostat no lower than 78 degrees or above.
-Use fans instead of air conditioning when possible.
-Turn off unused lights, appliances and equipment.
-Operate larger appliances during the early morning or evening hours.
