POWER DEMANDS CRIPPLE DWP RELENTLESS HEAT PUTS RESIDENTS IN DARK.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

Enduring the most relentless heat wave in years, Angelenos cranked up air conditioners to unprecedented levels this weekend and overwhelmed electricity distribution systems, leaving 30,000 DWP customers -- mostly in the San Fernando Valley -- without power on Sunday.

In communities from Boyle Heights to West Hills, outraged residents -- some of whom were without power for more than 30 hours -- draped wet towels around themselves to stay cool and emptied spoiled food from warm refrigerators.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Department of Water and Power officials pledged to restore service as soon as possible and urged the public to conserve energy.

But in the San Fernando Valley, tempers flared as the high hit 109 Sunday -- down from a record 119 the day before -- with some 20,000 DWP customers unable to turn on the AC for any relief.

``The mayor doesn't live here,'' said Millie Dillon of North Hills, who had lost power for nearly a day by Sunday afternoon. ``We won't get some service around here until somebody dies.''

As DWP crews scrambled to bring power back to blistering neighborhoods, the city opened a number of ``cooling centers'' -- community and senior centers equipped with working air conditioning and drinking water.

Mayor Villaraigosa urged residents still with power to conserve as much as possible and asked others to seek relief at the cooling centers.

``We need all Angelenos to help as we tackle the extreme heat wave and the demand it has placed on our electrical system,'' he said at a joint news conference with DWP officials.

The DWP asked customers:

To turn off lights when not in use.

Set thermostats to 78 degrees.

Limit use of large appliances during peak hours of the day.

Businesses should turn off computer equipment at the end of the day.

While DWP officials said the utility has enough energy to meet the needs of its customers, power lines and other equipment have become overloaded by the amount of electricity flowing through them.

DWP General Manager Ron Deaton said about 50 DWP crews -- some from as far as Bishop -- are working 16-hour shifts to repair the 585 outages reported on Sunday.

Woodland Hills still managed to set a record Sunday with a high of 108 degrees -- 11 degrees cooler than its all-time high set the day before. Chatsworth was the hottest spot in the Valley on Sunday at 109 degrees.

Record highs were also set Sunday in Camarillo, downtown Los Angeles and Oxnard, and at UCLA and LAX.

The National Weather Service forecasts more of the same todaywith highs of 108 in Woodland Hills and triple-digit temperatures elsewhere in the valley. The beaches will see temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s, rising to the 90s in local mountains.

With many returning to work today, more outages are expected unless residents and companies make a concerted effort to conserve energy, said the California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state's power grid.

The high humidity due to moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was expected to fade today and the region may cool by a few degrees beginning Wednesday, said Bill Hoffer, an NWS spokesman based in Oxnard.

Residents in the 16000 block of Lemarsh Street in North Hills dealt with the power outages as best they could.

Karima Diaz, 36, said about a dozen homes on the block lost power Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning she sent her husband and her 3-month-old son Connor to stay with her in-laws in Azusa, while she remained with her parents at home.

``We sent him someplace cool,'' she said. ``They have air. They have lights.''

Deaton blamed the prolonged heat wave -- in its 18th day Sunday -- for pushing the local distribution system to its limits.

``It's not just the aging infrastructure,'' he said. ``I've never heard of Woodland Hills reaching 119.''

Southern California Edison said up to 145,000 of its customers lost power Sunday, including those in the Inland Empire and the Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys. Power was restored to all but about 23,000 Edison customers Sunday evening, the utility said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to eight heat-related calls Sunday and hospitals did not report an unusually high number of patients with heat stroke.

Local cooling stations are at the following locations:

City of Burbank-Center, 1301 West Olive.

Glendale Parks and Recreation Communications Center, 201 E. Colorado St.

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Vonda Maronya, in the 16000 block of Lemarsh Street in North Hills, looks inside one of her four refrigerators that was without power Sunday. Localized power outages had many Valley folks frustrated with the Department of Water and Power.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer