The Imperial Irrigation District is encouraging residents to conserve energy this summer.

The IID plans on issuing alerts this summer letting residents know if their energy usage is too high.

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - With summer on the way and temperatures on the rise, the IID telling us they are prepared however they need residents to help them by using energy wisely to avoid conserve alerts.

Not only will you be lowering your bill, but if the demand for energy outpaces the supply, you'll be assisting the IID in times of stress.

“That means we may have to go on the open market and look for available energy, and that usually comes at a high price,” Robert Schettler the P.I.O. for the IID said.

Schettler with the IID telling us if the county needs more energy, it may be costly.

“Turn off the lights, check your air conditioner, have it 78 degrees or higher, and try to take stress off of the appliances during the hours of 4 to 9 p.m," he said.

The magic number, 78 degrees. That's what residents should have their thermostat at if a conserve alert were issued. The worst case scenario, power outages.

“We’ll take a section of our customers and shut the power off for 15 minutes,” he said.

Now while the IID is saying that they're not expecting any outages this summer, they are expecting temperatures to be high if not higher than last summer. A final reminder they're sending our way, is to be prepared, because when the heat hits, you just never know.