by Ben Gallagher, Public Information Officer

With the weather expected heat up over the next few days, I wanted to offer some information that your audience may find helpful. I’ve included tips for high heat safety, outage preparation and some info on how to save money and energy through our demand response programs. Here’s also some articles with tips on maximizing your air conditioner’s efficiency:

• Keeping Cool: 8 Tips for Air Conditioner Efficiency | Energized by Edison
• Keeping Cool: Saving Energy While Beating the Heat | Energized by Edison

Tips for high heat

• As temperatures rise, it’s important to take precautions ahead of time to be prepared for eventual heat waves, including making a safety preparedness plan.
• Make sure you know where your nearest cooling centeris in the event of a power outage.
• Here are a more tips on what to do before a heat wave hitsas well as best practices during high heat.
• It’s critically important to remember to never leave a child or pet alone in an enclosed vehicle, even with the windows “cracked” or open.

How customers can help and save money

• During periods of high energy demand, such as heat waves, customers can help relieve stress on the grid by voluntarily reducing energy usage while receiving financial incentives through our Demand Response programs.
• SCE offers three different Demand Response programsfor residential customers. Customers can enroll in one of these programs at a time:

• • • Smart Energy Program – This program is a year-round, event-based program that offers bill credits to eligible customers who own a qualifying smart thermostat and enroll through one of our authorized service providers. During a DR Event, your thermostat may be automatically adjusted to temporarily limit A/C usage. In exchange, you could qualify for a one-time $75 sign-up bonus plus up to $40 annually.  You can override events at any time, however overriding events may impact your continued participation in the program.
    • Summer Discount Plan – The Summer Discount Plan is a year-round, event-based program that allows SCE to turn or cycle off customers’ air conditioners. In return, customers earn bill credits on their summer season bills. There’s no cost to enroll or participate in this program.
    • Power Saver Rewards Program – The Power Saver Rewards program rewards you for voluntarily reducing your energy use during Power Saver Rewards events, which are called when the electricity grid is stressed. Customers earn $2 for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy you save. Power Saver Rewards events can occur any time from 4 to 9 p.m. on summer days between May 1 and October 31.

Preparing for an outage

• Extended heat waves can put additional stress on the grid, which may lead to heat-related outages. Here are some simple things you can do to prepare for an outage, as well as information on how to stay safe during an outage.
• Remember to never approach or touch downed power lines or anything that has come into contact with them. If you do see a downed line, call 911 immediately.
• Visit SCE’s outage centerfor updated information on current outages and to sign up for outage alerts.
• Follow these tips to keep your electronic devices connected to the internetduring power outages.
• Here are a few tips for charging your phoneduring an outage.