What can I do to help conserve energy usage?

Residential customers can help conserve and maintain power during extreme heat waves by following a few simple tips during the day:

Keeping Cool:

• Set your thermostat to 78°degrees when you are home and to 85 degrees or “off” when you are away.
• Pre-cool your home by lowering your air conditioning thermostats before 4 p.m.
• When possible, give your air conditioner a rest and cool your home with open windows and fans.
• Close drapes and blinds to keep out direct sunlight during high-temperature times of the day.
• Cook with your grill or microwave to keep your home cooler.
• Avoid using evaporative coolers or humidifiers when the air conditioner is running.
• Set your pool pump to run in the early morning or late at night.
• Keep inside air in and outside air out. Insulate, weatherstrip, and caulk cracks and holes.

Electrical Appliances

• Replace your incandescent light bulbs with more efficient LEDs.
• Minimize lighting use, where possible.
• Turn off unused appliances, electronic devices, chargers, and equipment and unplug them.
• Limit opening and reopening refrigerators are major electricity users in many homes.
• Charge mobile devices and laptops before 4 p.m.
• Charge electric vehicles before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Keep devices, medical equipment, and backup batteries charged and readily available.
• Have a backup plan to maintain any life-support equipment.
• Run your dishwasher, washing machine, and other major appliances before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Give your dryer a break and hang dry your clothes.

If you are a Net Energy Metering (NEM), Solar Billing Plan (SBP), or battery storage customer, when you conserve energy, the extra electricity goes back to the grid to help your neighbors and reduce the likelihood of CAISO calling for rotating power outages.

Businesses are encouraged to conserve energy and reduce power usage during a heat wave. With a few simple steps, companies can still serve their customers while keeping the power on for everyone.

• Turn office equipment off when not in use.
• Minimize lighting use, including outdoor signage, where possible.
• Close window coverings to keep out direct sunlight during high-temperature times of the day.
• Run ice machines at night and into the early afternoon to build up your ice supply.
• Use night covers on refrigerated display cases.
• Turn off excess or unused escalators and elevators.
• Shift dishwashing, waste processing, and laundry runtimes to off-peak demand hours.
• Clean solar panels to help generate more electricity.
• Pre-cool your business facility by lowering your air conditioning thermostats before 4 p.m.
• Charge electric vehicles and their batteries before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Charge mobile devices and laptops before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Run major equipment and operations in the morning or late at night.
• Sign up for one of our Savings & Incentives programs.

For more energy-saving resources and ways to make your business more energy-efficient, visit our Savings Solutions for Businesses.

Residential Customers

The Power Saver Rewards program rewards you for voluntarily reducing your energy use during Power Saver Rewards events, which occur when the electricity grid is stressed. To learn more, visit Powersaver.sce.com.

Business Customers

If your business can reduce its energy usage between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., enrolling in the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) could earn you incentives. To learn more, visit ELRP.sce.com.

If you depend on electrically-powered medical equipment, you may be eligible for SCE’s Medical Baseline Allowance program. This program provides an additional 16.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of daily electricity. Provided at the lowest baseline rate, this helps offset the cost of operating medical equipment.

For our customers that live in a high fire risk area (HFRA), the SCE online Marketplace offers rebates to help offset the costs of portable batteries (up to $150) as well as portable generators (up to $600 for customers enrolled in either the California Alternative Rates for Energy, Family Electric Rate Assistance, or Medical Baseline Allowance programs). 

SCE’s Critical Care Backup Battery program offers eligible customers who reside in a high-fire risk area enrolled in SCE’s Medical Baseline Allowance program a free portable backup battery to provide temporary power to the medical device(s) during a power outage. 

Cooling Centers provide safe, air-conditioned facilities during heatwaves. Find a Cooling Center.

• Our crews are prepared for the heatwave and will be available to make repairs as quickly and safely as possible.
• We regularly update sce.com with CAISO outage information.
• Visit the Power Outage Awareness Map to check the status of outages in your area.