Service was restored Wednesday morning to a swath of homes and businesses in South Los Angeles Wednesday as electricity demand remains high during a lingering heat wave that has brought extreme heat temperatures to the area and a call for energy conservation.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that Wednesday’s outage ended about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, but it was unclear how many customers were affected.
There were no other major outages in the city in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday, but forecasts again called for temperatures in the mid-90s and the LADWP and other electrical service providers offered tips to help reduce strain on the power system during peak demand periods, including:
— Adjusting air conditioning thermostats to 78 degrees to manage energy usage during the hottest hours of the day when systems have to work hardest to cool;
— Avoid using washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and other heavy appliances;
— Avoid using stoves or ovens;
— Close window curtains, shades or blinds during the heat of the day;
— Turn off lights and other electrical equipment when they are not in use because cell phone chargers, microwave ovens and other appliances use energy even when not in use; and
— Visit a cooling center, some of which accept pets.
A list of cooling centers in Los Angeles is available at emergency.lacity.gov/heat.
Temperatures are expected to moderate by the coming weekend, according to the National Weather Service.