Energy demand in LA sets record due to heat wave

ENCINO, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With another day of triple-digit temperatures in many parts of Southern California, energy demand set another record Tuesday.

Utility officials said demand was at 6,235 megawatts, topping Monday's demand of 6,196 megawatts. The previous record was set on Sept. 27, 2010, when demand was 6,177 megawatts.

The demands over the past two days were nearly double the amount of energy experienced on a typical day in Los Angeles, according to General Manager Marcie Edwards.

Southern California Edison customers reached 23,055 megawatts on Monday, a high for the year. The record weekday peak consumption was set on Aug. 31, 2007, when demand was 23,303.

Crews worked to restore power to thousands of people in the Southland. At the peak of the outage, over 15,000 SoCal Edison customers and 6,000 DWP customers were without power. Affected areas included Lancaster, Long Beach, Bell Gardens, Mission Hills, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Los Feliz.

On Wednesday morning, 4,100 SoCal Edison customers remained without power, with 2,300 in San Bernardino County alone. DWP said 630 customers remained with power in their coverage area.

Residents were urged to conserve energy when possible by doing things like setting air-conditioning thermostats at 78 degrees or higher, using electric fans instead of air conditioning when practical, turning off unused appliances and equipment, limiting how often you open your refrigerator door, and avoiding operating energy-intensive appliances later morning through the evening hours.

City News Service contributed to this report.