Sacramento, Calif. – The death toll from a 100-plus-degree heat wave continued rising Tuesday as utilities renewed their pleas for energy conservation to avoid rolling blackouts.
Slightly lower temperatures were expected in California, though the misery index remained high: Temperatures in the Central Valley region were expected to reach 100 to 105 on Tuesday, compared with 110 to 115 during previous days, the National Weather Service said.
Authorities were investigating at least 34 deaths possibly caused by the heat, most in the steamy Central Valley. Officials said most of the victims were elderly.
Thousands of farm animals also were dying in the heat, officials said.
In St. Louis, where more than 150,000 customers have been through a week-long heat wave without electricity, one utility worker was electrocuted Tuesday after stepping on a downed power line that had been obscured by branches, and another suffered electrical burns, utility Ameren Corps said.
Thousands of New Yorkers were also still without power in the ninth day of a blackout, with no clear estimate of when all the services might be restored.
The worst of the heat this week has been in the West, where California air conditioners drove electricity use to 50,270 megawatts on Monday – a state record.
Cutbacks by government agencies and businesses helped avoid rolling blackouts.
“We still have our guard up,” said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power grid.
