What You Need to Know About Flex Alerts
Do you know what a flex alert is? More importantly, do you know what to do if you receive a flex alert? Flex alerts were implemented this year are issued by the California Independent System Operators, which is an organization that monitors energy usage.
According to their website, FlexAlert.org,
“A Flex Alert is an urgent call to Californians to immediately conserve electricity and to shift demand to off-peak hours (after 6 p.m.). The Flex Alert campaign is an educational and emergency alert program that informs consumers about how and when to conserve electricity.”
If a flex alert is issued in your area, you are supposed to do three things:
- Turn off all unnecessary lights, computers and appliances.
- Adjust your AC thermostat to 78 degrees or higher.
- Postpone using major appliances and equipment until after 6pm.
Flex alerts were implemented this year because there is an especially high risk for blackouts and power outages. The drought is causing less power being produced from the hydro-stations, San Onofre Nuclear Plant was closed last year, and hot weather are a few of the reasons this program was instituted.
Although it’s especially important to conserve energy when a flex alert is issued, we encourage all of our customers to conserve energy in every way they can. There are a lot of ways to conserve energy. Whether you install an energy efficient AC unit, make sure your ducts aren’t leaking air, or simply program your thermostat to run a few degrees higher on a regular basis, conserving energy helps in a variety of ways.
Additionally, when you save energy, you save money too. A new energy efficient AC unit can pay for itself with the savings you receive from on your energy bills.
We encourage you to take action if a flex alert is issued and conserve energy even when it’s not.
Want to learn more about how we can help you save money? Give us a call at 800-994-2577!