A Los Angeles-area heat wave sparked power outages through the city Friday as temperatures reached triple digits, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Electricity demand peaked at record 6,256 megawatts on Friday, beating the past July record of 6,165 megawatts in 2006, the Times wrote. The newspaper said the usage was the fifth largest in city history.
Many areas in California broke their daily high temperature records Friday, with downtown Los Angeles reaching 108 degrees, breaking its previous daily record of 94 degrees, which was set in 1992, CNN reported. UCLA set a record Friday, too, when thermometers reached 111 degrees.
Saturday's usage reportedly dropped to 5,500 megawatts, the Times noted. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said in a statement Sunday that 26,500 customers were still without service.
"As of 6 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power system field crews have restored power to 57,000 customers since Friday’s heat storm began," said a statement from the department Sunday evening. "However, continued overloading of circuits has slowed restoration progress and led to recurring outages in some neighborhoods, including Windsor Square, Hancock Park, Korea Town, Laurel Canyon, among others.
"LADWP continues to encourage conservation by customers to help reduce strain on local electrical equipment, especially in these neighborhoods where outages have been restored, but which have lost service again due to high demand for electricity which strains neighborhood distribution equipment."
The department urged customers to reduce their electricity use in the afternoon and evening hours, especially from 2-9 p.m. by setting air conditioner thermostats to 78 degrees and not using appliances like clothes washers and dryers until after 9 p.m.
"For customers currently without power, LADWP estimates 24-48 hours to restore service from the time the outage occurred," the statement said. "Some more complex outage repairs, including recurring outages, may take longer than 48 hours."
The Times wrote that areas in Westlake, Koreatown, Beverly Grove, Encino, and Tarzana were all affected by the heat-related blackouts.
According to KABC-TV, Los Angeles and Orange counties will see a few clouds and a high of 90 degrees on Monday with the valleys and Inland Empire reaching 98. The television station the beach areas and mountain communities will see a high of 79.
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