Rotating Blackouts Possible In Laguna Beach, Flex Alert

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The heat is on across Orange County and the southland, with flex alerts and a stressed power grid. SoCal Edison has responded with a plea to homeowners to do what they can to reduce their impact.

In Laguna Beach, rotating power outages are possible starting Monday evening due to current excessive weather conditions and a persistent electric supply shortage for the California grid. Onsite backup generation to self-supply customer demand will help alleviate electricity shortages and may decrease or eliminate the need for rotating outages across the state.

Laguna Beach will be using backup power, when possible, to assist with the power shortage.

If you experience a rotating power outage, expect it to last about an hour in length, the city of Laguna Beach City Manager John Pietig reported Monday at 5 p.m.

"A rotating outage typically lasts one hour with little to no warning from the utility company," he explained. "Power companies rotate the outage across groups of customers throughout the service territory to protect the integrity of the electric system and limit the inconvenience to any one customer or community."

How can you help prevent power outages?

• Turn your AC up to 78 or higher.
• Hold off on running appliances (oven, dishwasher, washer/dryer).
• Turn off your lights.
• Unplug power strips, phone chargers, and other equipment not in use.

This Flex Alert, issued by California Independent Systems Operator (CASIO), is in place until Wednesday, from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m. daily.

The Flex Alert is a voluntary call for residents to conserve energy.