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June 16, 2021 6:27 PM By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press
Posted:
Updated:
Ringo H.W. Chiu
People play in the water in the heat at Santa Monica Beach on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Ringo H.W. Chiu
Beachgoers crowd in the heat at Santa Monica Beach on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Brittany Peterson
People cool off in the water at the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek in Denver, Wednesday June 16, 2021. A heat wave continues to hover over the western U.S., pushing the temperature to 99 degrees in Denver.
Larry Mayer
Residents watch as flames from the Robertson Draw fire burn above Red Lodge, Mont., Tuesday evening, June 15, 2021. Wildfires burning in Montana exploded in size over the past 24 hours and triggered evacuations of people from rural areas as scorching heat and heavy winds stoked the blazes.
Updated on June 17, 2021 at 8:36 am
NBC Universal, Inc.
What to Know
A statewide Flex Alert is one of the steps the operator of the state s power grid can take to avoid unplanned power outages in extreme heat.
A Flex Alert is a call for resident to voluntarily conserve power, usually during peak times of day.
Cal ISO also may issue three levels of alerts to avoid emergency outages with Stage 3 being the most serious.
A statewide Flex Alert was issued for Thursday afternoon as late-spring temperatures soar across California.
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The Flex Alert will be in effect from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday. (Shutterstock)
NEWPORT BEACH, CA State authorities issued a Flex Alert Wednesday calling for Newport Beach residents to voluntarily cut power on Thursday to reduce strain on California s power grid as a record-breaking heatwave grips the region.
Voluntarily turning off power and turning up the thermostat can make enough of a difference to stave off rolling blackouts, according to the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state s power grid.
The Flex Alert will be in effect from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday. A Flex Alert is a call for voluntary energy conservation, essentially a plea for residents across the state to cut their power use to reduce overall demand and lower the risk of outages. If Flex Alerts don t work, authorities sometimes will resort to rolling blackouts, deliberately turning off power to certain communities for periods of time.