Flex Alert Will Be Repeated Friday: Heat Wave Prompts Call For Voluntary Power Conservation Thursday

Updated: The manager of the state’s power grid has called another Flex
Alert —a call for voluntary power conservation — that will be in effect from
6 to 9 p.m. tomorrow. A Flex Alert is still scheduled to take effect today at 5
p.m., continuing until 10 p.m.

With temperatures soaring in the Southland and beyond, a Flex Alert calling on residents to voluntarily cut their power use will be in effect Thursday evening in hopes of reducing strain on the state’s power grid.

According to the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power grid, the Flex Alert will be in effect from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday.

A Flex Alert is a call for voluntary energy conservation, essentially a plea for residents across the state to cut their power use to reduce overall demand and lower the risk of outages.

Pasadena Water and Power spokesperson Margie Otto said PWP “will be encouraging our community to reduce power use from high-energy devices (EV chargers, dishwasher, washing machines, etc.) from the hours of 5-10 p.m.

“If everyone does their part to reduce energy during the peak hours, this will help the CASIO from having to issue immediate load shedding or rolling blackouts throughout the state,” Otto said.

She said that “as it stands” PWP has sufficient power resources to meet the city’s energy needs during sustained heat days but is inter-connected to the state’s power grid and will ask customers to reduce power consumption during Flex Alerts.

Around midday Wednesday, Cal-ISO projected that it would have adequate energy supplies through Thursday, although it urged residents “to remain vigilant” in case demand suddenly increased and threatened the availability of power reserves.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Cal-ISO announced plans for the Flex Alert.

According to Cal-ISO, residents are urged to take steps prior to the alert taking effect, such as pre-cooling their homes, using major appliances and closing window coverings to preserve cool air indoors. Once the alert takes effect, residents should set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using major appliances and turn off all unnecessary lights.