Summer is here and the heat is on. But this year, the hot stuff has added meaning. High-energy use and warm weather could lead to rolling blackouts at a location near you.
To shed some light when customers are left in the dark, Southern California Edison is urging users to understand their energy bills.
This month, newly formatted electric bills will be sent out to customers with information on rotating outages, details on extra energy charges and a tiered-rate structure. A rotating “outage group” number, which is located on the left hand side next to the account number, is the group to which a customer’s service account is assigned.
This number can be checked to see if a certain group is scheduled for a blackout. Advanced notice of blackouts can be checked on the Internet by logging onto www.sce.com.
The Web site also provides energy saving tips as well as blackout information basics.
Rotating outages, for one, are described as temporary electrical interruptions, that last approximately one hour. You can expect them when the state’s electric reserves fall below 1.5 percent, which prompts the system operator to declare a Stage 3 Emergency and hit the switch. Edison cannot guarantee uninterrupted service to any customer–even those who require special medical equipment. Instead, it urges critical-care customers to be prepared with back-up power systems.
In the event of an outage, have a battery-powered radio on hand as well as a flashlight. Make sure that at least one telephone (not cordless) will work without juice and learn how to open automatic garage doors and front gates manually. While there’s no telling how disruptive the power crisis may be, Edison says that a little preparation will go a long way to help customers keep their cool when things get hot.