CALIFORNIA, USA — A summer heat wave has utility crews busy with several power outages across the region over the weekend.
PG&E crews are used to working in all sorts of conditions, and they want people to be aware that they are working around the clock, prepared for anything if people lose power.
"Definitely a busy weekend. We still have a few outages today that we're tackling, and we're hoping the moderate weather will help the outage situation," said Paul Moreno, a spokesperson for PG&E.
Over the weekend, PG&E saw a fairly large power outage in El Dorado County and in the Woodland and Fairfield areas.
The cause is under investigation for some of the outages, but the heat is definitely playing a factor.
"What we're seeing largely are heat-related outages, either an equipment failure -- Because with the very hot days and very hot nights, people are using a lot of air conditioning, and our equipment that normally gets a chance to cool down at night doesn't get that chance, especially with the warm overnight temperatures," said Moreno.
Moreno says they have what he describes as a modern on-call system for employees coming in once a power outage happens.
They have crews on stand-by and materials such as transformers on-hand so they can respond quickly.
"When crews pinpoint the outage, they can actually isolate that portion of the grid from the grid, so we can restore power to most customers even before the damage is completely repaired," said Moreno.
Moreno says they know it's hot out and understand having power is a necessity.
"If there's a power outage at 11 o'clock at night, we call in crews to go and work on that power outage. We don't wait until the next business day to come out and work on that. We respond right away and oftentimes can get the power on to most or all customers within short order," said Moreno.
Some of the things people can do to prepare for one of these outages is to keep the blinds down, which will keep the heat out. Try not to open the fridge, and have electronics like your phone charged up.
If you're worried about your electric bill, you may also want to check with your utility company to see if there are any rebates you are eligible for.
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