Extreme Heat Sparks Power Outages Across Southland

WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Many residents on Thursday awoke without electricity here in Southern California.

According to Southern California Edison, about 15,000 customers system wide were left without power following wild weather and extreme heat conditions on Wednesday.

As of 7:30 a.m., SCE reports about 6,800 customers remain without power, with outages mainly impacting San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Meanwhile, CBS2's Jasmine Viel reported several homes were still in the dark along San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood this morning. Most SCE customers were affected in the north and east portions of L.A. County.

According to Los Angeles Department of Power and Water, less than 5,000 customers remain without power at this time.

Mayor Eric Garcetti explained the city could break last year's energy consumption level today.

Meanwhile, authorities recommended consumers to conserve energy by limiting the use of major appliances, setting air conditioning to 78 degrees, and unplugging energy vampires such as DVD players, cell phone chargers and microwaves.

City officials have dubbed today as "Save Power Thursday," in an effort to avoid blackout and brownout conditions.

At this time, an estimate for restoration has not been made available.