Power company asks residents to reduce energy consumption

Summers along the coast are usually sunny and warm, but numbers are showing that temperatures this summer are at an all-time high.

Both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are experiencing record-high heat as the weeks progress, and Monday was no exception. The day’s high in Newport Beach was 88 degrees, stomping the city’s 1949 record of 81 degrees.

Temperatures first started to rise around June 25, said National Weather Service forecaster Brad Doyle. It resulted from high pressure, which was caused by east-flowing pressure from the desert near northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

“If you liked yesterday, you’ll love today and tomorrow” National Weather Service forecaster Stan Wasowski said of temperatures since Sunday. “It’s going to stay plenty warm.”

But the heat does not come without consequence.

As temperatures shot up, so did energy consumption.

People are keeping their air conditioners cranked up in attempts to beat the heat, resulting in isolated power outages. Southern California Edison spokesman Eddie Marquez said they can be prevented, though.

“People need to conserve as much as they can,” he said. “We’re experiencing failed transformers because they are being overloaded by nonstop demand.”

Marquez added that the power company cannot control the power outages because they are not blackouts.

These outages are a result of the amount of energy used in individual homes, and numbers show that consumption has increased with the heat. Southern California Edison usually provides their consumers about 19,000 to 20,000 megawatts of power daily, but they are currently supplying more than 22,000 megawatts, said Steven Conroy, spokesman for the company.

They reached record usage Friday of 22,622 megawatts.

Conroy said rolling blackouts are a possibility in the future if energy consumption continues to rise. He advised that people conserve as much as possible.

Temperatures in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, which are currently averaging in the 80s and low 90s, are expected decrease as the days progress, but Wasowski said that no noticeable change is expected to occur until at least the end of the week. dpt-25-heat-dl-CPhotoInfo741T8OCJ20060725j2xlsencCredit: DON LEACH / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)It was almost 100 degrees in Costa Mesa at the intersection of Baker and Fairview.