PG&E Crews Prepare for potential outages during heatwave

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As the extreme temperatures continue, many people across the Central Valley are cranking up their air conditioning to try and stay cool.

PG&E says Saturday is a peak day event because of the heat and encouraging people to reduce their energy usage.

"We do know that as the day starts to get warmer, obviously the temperature in the home is going to start to get higher," said PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith.

Smith says on hot days like we are seeing this weekend, it's best to try and open your blinds and cool your home early in the morning.

"The peak period of time tends to be between 4 and 9 pm, so if you're able to, we recommend cooling your home just a little bit before that coolest period of the day, so you may not need to use it during the peak periods," said Smith.

While the California ISO website shows the energy demand trend increasing, Smith says the good news with this heatwave is that it seems to be more confined to the Central Valley.

"As a result of that from what we're hearing from the California ISO, and we're in regular communication with them, they are not anticipating flex alerts and those type of warnings this weekend and that's because overall throughout the state of California they are not seeing the out of ordinary temperatures that we're seeing here in the Central Valley," said Smith.

He says because of this, PG&E does have staff on standby in case transformers fail.

"So what we want to be able to do is respond safely and quickly to those situations, so we stage crews in the area that are at most risk for potential outages and they try and get them to that location quickly so they can restore that power as safely and quickly as possible," said Smith.

We spoke to people at Millerton Lake looking to escape using their energy altogether this weekend.

"My bills are outrageously high over the summer, I do not have solar and so we try to minimize and keep our house cool by closing our shades and just trying to hang out at the lake," said Fresno Resident Laura Renteria.

Angela Randall says she brings her daughters so out to stay cool without raising her bill.

"Usually when we're home we are just running the A/C a lot, and if we're not home, then we come out here, I'd rather be in the water all day," said Fresno Resident Angela Randell.

Randall says being at the lake saves her a ton of money during the sweltering heat.

"I rather spend 10 dollars to have fun then pay 200 to stay cool," said Randell.

PG&E also says the best thing you can do is prepare now before an outage occurs by freezing water and making sure you have extra flashlights and batteries.

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