From WWW.LATIMES.COM
As the deadly heat wave continues broiling the state, officials say Californians should be ready for rolling blackouts.
The California Independent System Operator is asking people to take any measures possible to reduce their power usage as much as possible starting at 4 p.m., when another Flex Alert goes into effect. That includes unplugging devices you aren’t using, turning the air conditioning to 78 degrees or turning it off, and holding off on running large appliances like your dishwasher and laundry machine until the power demand decreases.
Right now, usage is higher than ever as California contends with triple-digit heat in some areas.
“Electricity demand is currently forecast at more than 52,000 megawatts (MW), a new historic all-time high for the grid,” the agency said Tuesday. Residents should be “ready for potential rotating power outages on Tuesday evening, as the hottest weather of this historic heat wave is forecast to push electricity demand to an all-time high. If outages are initiated, consumers can expect to receive notifications from power providers on areas affected and time duration.”
That means it’s a good time to prepare to lose power. Check your flashlight batteries, prep a no-cook meal, and break out your puzzles and board games. Here’s what else you can do before, during and after a power outage.
Emergencies happen. For a potential power outage — and any other natural or human-made disaster that may strike — you want to have your basic emergency readiness boxes ticked. Have your emergency kit supplies ready, including food, water, batteries, a fire extinguisher, cash, a hand-crank NOAA radio and a manual can opener (you can find a full list here). If you signed up for Unshaken, our earthquake preparedness newsletter series, a lot of this information is going to sound familiar. Being prepared for one kind of disaster will have you well equipped to handle any emergency that comes up.
Sign up for alerts from your electricity provider and bookmark its website’s map of outages. In a lot of Southern California, that’s going to be Southern California Edison, which has an outage map here and lets you sign up for alerts by email, text and phone here. In the city of Los Angeles, you can check the L. A. Department of Water and Power outage map here and click here for alerts. Here’s the outage map for San Diego Gas & Electric and how to download the app with alerts. And here’s where to find the outage map for Pacific Gas & Electric, which serves much of the rest of California, and where to sign up for those alerts.
If you have advance notice that you may lose power, there are things you can do to get ready to weather the outage.
* Fill up your gas tank or charge your electric car battery in case the outage lasts longer than expected and you have to travel somewhere else.
* Double-check that flashlights and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have working batteries.
* Charge your phone and devices, along with an extra battery pack.
Plugging in a bunch of laptops, battery packs and phones to charge before a Flex Alert or planned outage goes into effect might sound counterintuitive to what you’re supposed to be doing when energy demand is already up. But it’s not, said Diane Castro, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison.
“Once the Flex Alert happens, that’s when you want to unplug the devices,” she said. “You can charge your phone before the Flex Alert. It’s during those Flex Alerts, those peak hours, that’s when you want to conserve energy.”
The same goes for your air conditioning: It’s fine to crank the thermostat to pre-cool your place, then turn it up to 78 or higher (or turn it off altogether) during the Flex Alert.
Anticipate what your power needs might be during the outage and figure out how to plan ahead:
* Learn how to manually open your garage door, or leave it open during the outage.
* If you have impaired mobility and use an elevator to get between floors, work with your household members or neighbors to figure out a plan to get you out of the building if needed.
* If you use electric medical devices, make sure they have fresh batteries and contact your doctor to discuss what to do if you lose power.
* If someone in your household needs to work or attend class, install apps like Zoom on your phone, or figure out how to use your phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot.
If you have a non-corded telephone on a traditional phone line, you’ll still be able to use it when the power is out. It’s a good idea to write down crucial phone numbers (doctor, neighbors, family members, maybe a co-worker or two) so you don’t need to rely on your smartphone when battery power is at a premium…. (Read more)
