Flex Alert in Effect, Brown Outs Possible; Pasadena Water and Power Readies for Sweltering Heat This Weekend

[UPDATED] A Flex Alert will take effect Saturday and continue through Monday as temperatures in Pasadena are expected to soar over 110 degrees over the Labor Day weekend, officials said.

The statewide Flex Alert will be in place from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. all three days, according to the California Independent System Operator (ISO).

“Consumers can actively help by shifting energy use to morning and nighttime hours,” the ISO said in a written statement. “Conservation can lower demand and avoid further actions, including outages, and lessen the duration of possible power interruptions.”

In addition to scorching daytime heat, “Overnight temperatures statewide are projected to be at least 10 degrees higher than normal, which doesn’t allow infrastructure to cool down,” according to the ISO statement. “High heat is also predicted throughout the West for the weekend, which can limit the ISO’s ability to import energy to serve demand.”

“Consumers can actively help by shifting energy use to morning and nighttime hours,” the statement continued. “Conservation can lower demand and avoid further actions, including outages, and lessen the duration of possible power interruptions.”

The National Weather Service predicted high temperatures of 113 degrees in Pasadena on Saturday and 112 on Sunday.

Flex Alerts are voluntary calls to conserve energy in an effort to stem outages, brownouts, and blackouts. The demand on the grid is highest in the afternoons and evenings, as people tend to arrive home and turn on appliances, at the same time solar power generation falls off due to sunset.

While Pasadena enjoys the advantage of having its own power plant, the Glenarm Repowering Plant, owned and operated by the Pasadena Water and Power Department, it does not guarantee local service will be uninterrupted, according to the utility.

Known as a “peaker plant,” the facility can come online within 10 minutes “to meet most of the city’s power needs or to operate at the request of the California Independent System Operator to support the state’s power grid with new generation,” PWP said in a written statement.

“In terms of our generation capability, we are comfortable that we can meet our customer’s energy demands,” said PWP spokeswoman Margie Otto.

But since the local electric grid is connected to the rest of the state, a failure in power generation or overload of the system elsewhere could result in power being redirected out of Pasadena, leading to potential service interruptions, even if the local electrical supply is sufficient to power the community, she explained.

The best way to minimize the possibility of a rotating outage is conservation, particularly during Flex Alert hours, she added.

“The status of any power supply is a constant change, which means that at a moment’s notice PWP may have to implement rotating power outages, even if its generating power at the Glenarm Plant,” the statement said. “When PWP receives a directive to curtail load from CA-ISO, we need to assist immediately.”

State officials credited the public with preventing expected outages during previous waves of extreme heat on Aug. 17 and 18, according to the ISO.

While the Flex Alert is in effect after 3 p.m., electrical customers are urged to take measures such as setting thermostats at 78 degrees, if health permits; avoiding the use of major appliances; turning off unnecessary lights and fans; and keeping refrigerator doors closed as much as possible.

Electrical devices and vehicles should be charged outside of Flex Alert hours, when possible, officials added.

“We understand it’s going to be hot and the City has made a cooling center available for customers to go seek relief,” Otto said. “If conservation can happen it’s ideal during the peak periods, 3 p.m.to 9 p.m. on Saturday through Monday,” Otto said