Engineer discusses power grid concerns ahead of record breaking temperatures

LOS ANGELES - The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch Friday through Monday for the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County.

California ISO issued a Flex Alert from Saturday to Monday due to the forecasted heat. Consumers are encouraged to lower energy use from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on those days to relieve stress on the grid.

The ISO also issued a Restricted Maintenance Operations (RMO) from Saturday to Monday ahead of the high temperatures and energy demand.

Officials from the California ISO said it is too early to know the specific impact of the heat on the grid.

However, Bill Powers, the Principal of Powers Engineering in San Diego, said the grid is designed to operate efficiently during a heat wave.

"People should feel some security in the fact the grid is capable of handling these types of events. The grid is designed for these types of events. They should not take from what happened three weeks ago as an example of what they may be faced with this weekend. I see the fundamental problem with what happened three weeks ago as incompetence in management of the grid," Powers said.

Powers said the temperatures are not "excessive" enough for a power outage.

"The populace should not feel as if we're walking on eggshells and at the ragged edge. The populace is paying billions and billions and billions of dollars for transmission, power plants, and backup so they should expect this grid to operate reliably," he said.

Powers also encourages people to conserve power.

"You don't need to deny yourself comfort. Run the air conditioner, just run it at a moderate pace and you'll be doing your part," he said.