'Thank You California For Protecting The Grid Again': ISO Lifts Stage 2 Emergency
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the operation of California's bulk electric power system, lifted a Stage 2 Emergency on Sunday night and thanked residents for their efforts toward conservation.
"Thank you California for protecting the grid again," ISO said in an announcement on Twitter.
A Stage 2 Emergency, which had been declared briefly both Saturday and Sunday, means the "ISO has taken all mitigating actions and is no longer able to provide its expected energy requirements."
California ISO said due to the extreme heat and strain on the electric system, as many as 3 million homes could have lost power.
After lifting the Stage 2 Emergency, California ISO said "no outages were ordered by the grid operators" on the high-voltage electricity system.
There were other outages throughout the day on Sunday that were active within separate utility companies.
Glendale Water and Power had outages for a short time on Sunday, but the power was soon turned back on.
Southern California Edison reported there were about 50,000 customers impacted by outages at some point throughout the day, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said about 70,000 customers remained without power as of 9 p.m. and some 77,000 had their power restored. Some of the hardest-hit areas were Mid-Wilshire, Sylmar and Pacoima.
"We know that people are working from home, kids are doing online learning so we understand how disruptive these outages can be," said Reggie Kumar with SCE. "If directed, we will try to make sure they are as short as possible, with the least impact on any one group of customers."
Saturday night, thousands of SCE and LADWP customers also lost power for hours. While the initial estimated response time for those impacted was between four to 12 hours, LADWP officials later said some people may not get power restored until up to 48 hours later.
A Flex Alert, in effect daily from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Monday, remains in place statewide to help prevent extensive strains on the state's electric grid.
Residents who are staying home are asked to keep their AC no lower than 78 degrees, keep blinds and drapes closed, and avoid using major appliances between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Cooling centers are also available throughout SoCal.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
