Nearly 170 homes in Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights were without power Sunday as thousands of homes across Los Angeles county experienced outages related to record-breaking high temperatures over the weekend.
KTLA5 and The Eastsider reported that, as of Sunday night, 143 homes in Boyle Heights and 23 in neighboring Lincoln Heights were without power.
On Monday morning, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) said it had restored service to 76,000 customers, but it was unclear if Eastside homes were still without power.
UPDATE: As of 9:00am, LADWP has restored power to 76,000 customers, but we urge residents to continue to conserve energy when possible. https://t.co/BmaEXQgGaU
— LADWP (@LADWP) July 9, 2018
Various social media users reported on outages in Boyle Heights on Sunday.
A Twitter user said in a post Sunday night that a falling tree on South Grande Vista Avenue and Atlantic Street near Ramón García Park hit power lines and caused some outages in homes as far East as Lorena Street, but it was unclear if those were included in the number reported. The Twitter user said the incident caused delays in traffic exiting the Northbound 5 Freeway at the Grande Vista exit.
#boyleheights #poweroutage #LA23 #grandevista
Fresno st Park, se corner branch fell from eucalyptus tree 50ft tall downing power line at about 7.45/8pm.⚡ ⚡ onto street. Delays at Grande vista exit off 5n
— GarrielTerrorioDamet (@TenorioPraxGab) July 9, 2018
The weekend heatwave brought triple-digit temperatures to the Southland, but temperatures are expected t remain in the mid-to-high 80s this week.
Along with the temperatures electricity demand soared over the weekend. The Eastsider reported that electricity use on Friday broke records for most use ever on a day in July. Saturday boasted the second highest electricity use in a weekend, according to the outlet.
Utilities said the power outages were caused by the large number of customers using the power-grid and its failure to keep up with the excess use. Officials are encouraging people to use less electricity from 2-9 pm in order to reduce this effect. Some tips to help out other Boyle Heights residents: use air conditioning as little as possible and use washers and dryers after 9.
Photo above: “La energía del Sol” by Flickr User Alejandro Gómez/Creative Commons.
