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BARNSTABLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — With a heat wave dragging into the weekend in Massachusetts, Eversource says the brutal heat has been causing some power outages.
The utility company says thousands of people across the Bay State have lost power during this blistering heat wave, and many outages have been caused by equipment simply overheating.
READ MORE: Heat Wave Continues & Intensifies Over The Weekend
Eversource spokesman Chris McKinnon explained the problem, saying "there's all different types of equipment in our system. We have systems that are above ground; we also have equipment underground," and some of that equipment is "exposed to the elements of mother nature."
McKinnon says the risk of overheating from high temperatures is made worse by heavy demand on the electrical system. The utility is asking customers to help reduce the load on the network during the peak usage hours between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m..
"It is helpful if folks avoid using big appliances like the washer or drier, turning on your electric stove, things like that," says McKinnon.
Between Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, McKinnon says Eversource restored power to approximately 40,000 customers statewide.
As of 11:15 a.m. Friday, close to 1,500 outages were reported on MEMA's outage map, including 99% of the town of Warwick, MA.
For all the latest on the forecast, outages, and other impacts of the heat wave, listen to WBZ NewsRadio live.
WBZ's Tim Dunn has more on this story:
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