Sizzling temperatures prompt Bay Area power watch

Bay City News Service

July 22, 2006

With inland temperatures expected to reach up to 110 degrees today in the Bay Area, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is asking people to conserve energy.

The California Independent System Operator has issued a "Flex Your Power NOW!" power watch to encourage residents to reduce unnecessary energy use. The power watch will be in effect through Monday, California ISO reported, although a report stated that emergency power shortages are unlikely.

PG&E is urging Bay Area residents to take steps to reduce energy consumption. People are encouraged to set air conditioning thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, use fans to cool homes and offices, draw drapes and turn off unnecessary appliances and lights.

Using big appliances like washing machines and dishwashers early in the day or later at night, outside the peak hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., can also help conserve power.

Several power outages reported Friday throughout the Bay Area were blamed on the increased demand for power resulting from the record high temperatures, according to PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno.

Equipment overload caused five separate power outages in the Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood areas Friday, PG&E reported. Some smaller heat-related equipment failures are believed to have caused scattered outages throughout the Bay Area. A larger outage in Hayward was also reported Friday.

Power has been restored to about 90 percent of customers experiencing outages from Friday, PG&E spokeswoman Jana Schuering said today.

A power outage that began at about 6:30 a.m. today in Pittsburg and Antioch along Bailey Road is affecting about 16 customers, Schuering said. PG&E crews are currently investigating the cause of the outage and are working to restore power.

PG&E is also investigating the cause of an outage in Concord that is affecting an estimated 3,200 customers this morning.

A National Weather service heat advisory remains in effect through Sunday for the interior portions of the Bay Area.

Six temperature records were broken Friday and a seventh was tied as Northern California continued to swelter, according to the National Weather Service.

Today is expected to be even hotter, according to a National Weather Service spokesman, and more records could be broken.

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