Rotating outages possible amid heatwave

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY)-Some residents in Imperial County experienced power outages over the weekend due to a shortage of energy.

The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is urging residents to conserve energy to avoid more outages.

Temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit were seen in Imperial County Saturday, a time when electricity is at the utmost of importance to keep cool.

IID warned residents about possible outages in the area due to a shortage of energy resources.

“We’ve gone all year without having to do that except for Saturday. Saturday was caused because at the last minute in the afternoon we did not get 300 megawatts that we were set to procure," said Bob Schettler, IID information officer.

According to IID rotating outages last about 15 minutes, but some residents reported having no electricity for up to an hour.

“We’re looking into that, and all I can say right now is there is stress on the system. we live in the desert, we plan for these things but some of this is happening statewide," said Schettler.

The IID has issued a heatwave alert expected to last until Monday night, and they say additional blackouts are a possibility for this evening.

They are urging residents to conserve energy from 3-9 p.m. to avoid service interruptions.

Simple ways to conserve energy include unplugging devices, avoiding using major appliances like washers and dryers, and turning off lights, not in use.

“Sometimes there are outages. A transformer goes out or lines go out, but in all of those cases we work quickly to restore power," said Schettler.