Heat, rain and fire: Edison sets an energy-use record

Other utilities register high demand, and there are scattered power outages. No relief is expected until after the long holiday weekend.

Day 4 of the year’s longest heat wave brought new energy-use records Friday, thunderstorms, lightning-sparked fires and forecasts of no relief through the holiday weekend.

At 2 p.m. Friday, Southern California Edison, which serves about 4.8 million customers, broke its peak energy demand record of 22,889 megawatts set July 25, 2006. Energy use peaked in the afternoon at 23,303 megawatts.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power came close to setting a record for power consumption for the second day in a row. Friday’s demand for electricity peaked at 6,107 megawatts, the second-largest daily usage ever, exceeding Thursday’s high of 6,039 megawatts. The DWP record is 6,165 megawatts, hit July 24, 2006.

The state energy grid also suffered, hitting its highest usage this summer with 48,617 megawatts.

Scattered power outages were reported throughout the region but were generally short.

Energy use is expected to decrease over the weekend as people leave town, most office buildings are closed and temperatures cool in the northern part of the state.

The heat wasn’t the only weather-related news.

Los Angeles Times