Flex Alert Issued In Beverly Hills

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The state of California has issued a Flex Alert, calling on residents to voluntarily cut their power use amid a blistering heat wave.

The California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power grid, announced Wednesday that a Flex Alert will be in effect from 5 to 10 pm Thursday.

The Flex Alert is a call for voluntary energy conservation, asking residents to cut their power usage to avoid the risk of outages.

Cal-ISO said Wednesday that it would have enough supplies to last through Thursday, but urged residents to “remain vigilant” should demand increase and threaten the availability of power reserves, which often happens during heat waves as everyone cranks up their air conditioning all day and night.

The ISO recommends setting the thermostat to 78 degrees or higher, avoiding use of major appliances, turning off unnecessary lights, using fans to cool homes, and unplugging unused items.

Conservation during evening hours is especially important, the ISO said, because solar production is down, but power usage can be high.

“We will be relying on Californians to be partners in protecting grid reliability in this heat event and throughout the summer, when needed,” the ISO said Wednesday.

In Beverly Hills, temperatures have been cooler than cities in the Conejo and San Fernando valleys, which reached triple digits Wednesday and are expected to remain in the upper 90s the rest of the week. Thursday will see a high of 87, and Friday will be 84.

Five Flex Alerts were issued in 2020, in comparison to one in 2019 and two in 2018, according to ISO data.

Beverly Hillers can conserve power by heading to nearby air-conditioned cooling centers open to the public:

• West Hollywood Public Library, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd, open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Buena Vista Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank; Monday-Thursday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
• St. Barnabas Senior Services, 675 S. Carondelet St., Los Angeles, Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

See the County website for a full list of sites.