Edison urges power saving

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - Southern California Edison anticipates record power use and is urging customers to conserve energy as temperatures hover near triple digits in the Inland area.

Hot weather caused a surge of power usage over the July 15-16 weekend, causing several small blackouts. The start of the workweek will cause an even greater demand for power, Southern California Edison spokesman Steven Conroy said.

Peak usage around 4 p.m. July 15 was 20,750 megawatts, he said. The all-time peak of 21,934 megawatts in Southern California Edison's service area was set on July 25, 2005, a Monday, Conroy said. One megawatt serves about 650 homes.

"That is just an absolute phenomenal number for a weekend," he said of the usage.

Customers should conserve energy by refraining from washing or drying clothes or running a dishwasher and other appliances during peak hours from noon until 4 p.m., Conroy said.

He encouraged people with pools and spas to run their pumps for fewer hours. Thermostats in homes should be set at 78 degrees.

Closing drapes and shades and running fans help keep rooms cool. Lights in unoccupied rooms should be turned off and appliances such as fax machines should be switched off if they're not in use, he said.

The Riverside County health department recommends residents keep refrigerators and freezers closed so food will remain safe in an outage of 2 hours or less. Residents should also group cold foods together and only use dry ice if proper precautions have been taken against skin burns and carbon dioxide.

On the evening of July 15, a power outage spread over several miles in San Bernardino hitting resident Don Bonner and his daughter, about 5 miles away. Bonner said he walked outside to move his car and when he returned the television was off. After looking at the circuit breaker he called Edison, then his daughter realized the outage was widespread.

The outage lasted about an hour and a half for them with their power returning about dusk, 66-year-old Bonner said. He just opened up all the windows and relaxed, but it only helped so much.

"We laid low, we did not keep cool," he said by phone.

In San Bernardino, up to 150 customers on July 16 were without power from as long as 7 p.m. the previous night in the area of Genevieve and 35th streets, Conroy said. Saturday's 107-degree mark in San Bernardino was the highest on record for a July 15, according to the National Weather Service and records kept by The Press-Enterprise.

"It's been directly related to the heat," Conroy said. "We're starting to see some equipment overload."