07/12/2012 10:58–The Israel Electric Company on Thursday morning asked that the public conserve the use of energy-intensive devices to early morning or late evening only, due to the fragile state of the country’s electricity reserves.

The IEC urged residents to refrain from using appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, electric cookers and vacuum cleaners between 12 and 5 p.m., as well as to ensure that air conditioners are set on 25 degrees Celsius or above.

As temperatures surge during over the next few days, the IEC said it expects electricity demand to be extremely high – at 11,500 megawatts on some days – which may necessitate forced blackouts. The company may have to stop power lines intermittently throughout the country, it said, in outages will last only about an hour and will be divided among customers equally.

The weather forecast for the next week shows expected temperatures throughout the country of about 36 degrees Celsius, with humidity levels reaching between 50 and 60 percent. The heat index, factoring in the humidity, will be about 46 degrees Celsius, the IEC reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the IEC said it is preparing for the heat wave by running all production units at its disposal and by making special arrangements with private power producers. The company apologized in advance about the difficulties that its customers are likely to experience and reminded residents to backup all devices that require power.

“The IEC will continue to make every effort to provide its customers [with] all electricity demands, and thanks the public for understanding, responsiveness and cooperation,” a statement from the company said, reminding customers to check its website regularly for updates about outages…Read More>>

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