Power equipment failures possible as heat wave continues
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- July has brought the heat after a mostly mild June.
Scorching temperatures are expected to last for at least the next week.
"Our meteorologists are constantly evaluating what areas are going to be the hardest hit by a heatwave," said PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith.
In this case, the Central Valley is among the areas of the state really sweating it out.
"That's not great for us here in the Central Valley but what it does mean is that up to this point, the California ISO has not had to issue any Flex Alerts or anything of that nature," said Smith.
California ISO is the Independent System Operator, which oversees the state's electric grid.
Last summer, the state had several consecutive Flex Alerts to keep power usage down and prevent rolling blackouts.
Still, there are concerns for power equipment in Central California.
"We have not had a day under 100 degrees in over a week now and that really doesn't give our equipment very much time to cool down because people are continuing to run their air conditioners really almost all hours of the day," said Smith.
PG&E says you should be prepared for outages just in case equipment fails.
- Make sure your contact information is up-to-date with PG&E for any alerts
- Keep your phone charged
- Take measures to cool down your house, like keeping the blinds closed
- Keep plenty of water on hand
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