GO EASY ON POWER, UTILITIES ASK.

Byline: Dennis Love Daily News Staff Writer

In the wake of the weekend's big blackout, the word has been passed down from the power companies that be: Conserve.

Easy for them to say, according to San Fernando Valley consumers sweating out a three weeks long - and counting - heat wave that Monday pushed the mercury in Woodland Hills to a white-hot 106 degrees.

``It's 100 degrees out here,'' complained Jennifer Scarbrough, 32, squinting through the midday sun outside Thrifty Drugs in Woodland Hills. ``Without air conditioning, it's probably 120 inside my apartment.

``Conservation is a good idea, but I think I'll take my chances.''

None of the utilities affected by Saturday's regional outage was suggesting that anyone take onerous steps to curtail electricity consumption. Indeed, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric all took pains to reassure the public that enough energy was on hand to meet expected demands.

Still, as engineers met in Portland, Ore., (Monday's predicted high: 88) in hopes of preventing another system breakdown, representatives for the large utilities were asking that consumers make some voluntary changes to reduce stress on California's power distribution system.

San Francisco-based PG&E, the nation's largest utility, with 4.3 million customers - 2.7 million of whom were affected Saturday - asked that thermostats be kept at 78 degrees or 85 if no one is at home, and that home appliance use be avoided between the peak demand hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The DWP - sensing, perhaps, the cranky mood of the populace in much warmer Southern California - issued a somewhat watered-down plea for corner-cutting by its 1.3 million customers.

``We have plenty of energy to meet our demand,'' said Maureen Palmer, DWP spokeswoman. ``But in the spirit of cooperation with our fellow utilities, we're asking customers to conserve when and where they can.''

Otherwise, don't sweat it, DWP said.

Perspiration may be the only option, however, as temperatures continue to soar, particularly in the West Valley. After a survivably temperate June (average high 86, normal average 91) and first half of July (average 95, normal 96), the readings began to climb. The average daily high from Aug. 1 through Aug. 12 was 100, with even warmer highs forecast for the next few days.

``It will get warmer, although we're seeing some thunderstorms popping to the north,'' said Bill Hoffer, weather service specialist with the National Weather Service. ``But there is a high-pressure system that's been stuck over the Four Corners states for about 2-1/2 weeks now that doesn't seem to be going anywhere.''

In contrast to Woodland Hills' desertlike conditions, the East Valley, true to form, has registered more accommodating temperatures. The average high for Aug. 1-12 in Burbank was 87 degrees, a full 13 degrees cooler than Woodland Hills.

Hoffer attributed the differential to mountain passes pushing cooler coastal air toward the Burbank area, as well as ``a heck of a lot more concrete in the Woodland Hills area. It makes a difference.''

Meanwhile, those searching for traditional heat wave alternatives might be disappointed, given current circumstances.

Thinking about the beach? Saturday's outage forced the Hyperion wastewater treatment plant to release only partially treated sewage about a mile offshore, much closer than usual and forcing a temporary closure of 10 miles of shoreline from Venice to Redondo Beach. The shoreline reopened Monday after health officials declared that bacteria levels had returned to normal.

Considering the normally reliable retreat to the climate-controlled comfort of a movie theater? Sounds good, except that one of the newest box-office attractions, ``Escape From L.A.,'' features a pitched battle for a device which threatens to shut down Earth's power supply - a little too realistic, perhaps.

``I'm just going to do what I always do,'' said David Chang, 40, of Chatsworth. ``Go home, use as much AC as I need and watch TV.''

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Chart: (Color) FEELING THE HEAT

An August heatwave that has generated temperatures above 100 degrees six days this month has pushed average high temperatures well above normal in the West San Fernando Valley. It's cooler in the East Valley, but no jackets required.