'It Drains You': Keeping Cool On A Sweltering Saturday, Without Using Too Much A/C
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - California successfully avoided rolling blackouts on a sweltering Saturday, but without cranking up the air conditioning - people had to find other ways to beat the heat.
"It's hot - what can you do?" asked Tyler Wunsch, who did his part by enjoying an evening bike ride instead of using energy at home. "It's tough. I snuck in a few A/C runs."
California ISO asked people to be like him over the weekend, by turning the A/C to 78 degrees and avoiding using appliances during the worst hours of the heat wave. Wunsch said he tries, but at times it can be unbearable.
"What do we do when in 112-113 heat - we ultimately have to use the tools we have, which is A/C or a cold beer," he said.
But at least it's not the desert.
"My son is in Las Vegas and it's 117," Maria Sanchez said, knowing it could be worse.
For her, the pool was the place to be during triple digits as the sun took its toll.
"Oh it drains you," Sanchez said. "I stay in the water most of the time."
Plenty of others did the same to splash into their summer. While others found comfort in a much more chill atmosphere. Dapree Brown hit up a recently re-opened indoor ice rink in Stockton with his kids.
"It's cold in here - but you want to go outside and be hot? No," Brown said. He called it the perfect place on a Saturday scorcher. Oddly enough, Lisa Gutirrez had to bundle up while there.
"It's kind of random having to wear sweaters but it's great," Gutirrez.
Saturday's flex alert expired on Saturday night at 9 p.m., but it's unclear if there will be future stress of the power grid. A power line has been impacted by wildfires in Oregon, and it's possible it may not be restored to service until Sunday night.
