Can Vegas air conditioners handle the holiday heatwave?
As Las Vegas gears up to deal with a potential record heatwave over the Fourth of July weekend, NV Energy is confident its system will be able to keep the air conditioners running.
“NV Energy does not have concerns about energy supply this week,” an NV Energy spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Our teams will continue to monitor conditions to ensure we have the energy available to serve our customers.”
The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning this week for Las Vegas that starts at 11 a.m. Wednesday and goes until 11 p.m. July 8 and it forecast Las Vegas could reach 115 degrees on Saturday. Although there is a possibility Las Vegas ties the record high of 117 degrees on Saturday.
Clark County is planning to open cooling stations Wednesday and will keep them open until July 10.
Las Vegas isn’t the only place facing a heatwave, as the National Weather Service forecasts triple-digit temperatures for Portland, Sacramento and Reno in the next few days.
Although NV Energy is confident it can meet customer demand it does have recommendations for customers looking to conserve during this heatwave which include installing window screens or films to keep heat out, using big appliances like dishwashers as late at night as possible, keeping freezers as full as possible and to set thermostats to 78 to 80 degrees while at home and five to 10 degrees, warmer when away from home.
Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.
