Riverside, Calif. – To prepare for possible natural gas delivery shortages that could affect when, and how long its local power plants can run this summer, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) is encouraging its residential and commercial energy customers to become “Power Partners” with the utility and voluntarily agree to reduce energy consumption during peak demand times or when called upon.

“Once again we find ourselves in a situation we can’t control, and once again we will look to our customers for assistance,” said RPU General Manager Girish Balachandran. “While we do not yet know the full impact of how the gas shortages may affect us, we’re confident that our energy customers will step up, as they have in the past, to conserve and stabilize both the regional and local energy grids when needed.”

The possible threat to Riverside’s power availability comes from the aftermath of a four-month long natural gas leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility (the second largest natural gas storage facility in the nation), near Porter Ranch, CA and its subsequent closure.

During the summer, more than 40 percent of RPU’s peak energy demands are met by natural gas fired turbines at its Riverside Energy Resource Center (RERC) and Springs power generation facilities within the city of Riverside. Regional curtailments in natural gas deliveries could greatly affect the utilities’ summer service commitments to its customer-owners.

Businesses participating in the Power Partner program can receive one-on-one support from an RPU account manager who can assist with energy reduction and energy load shedding plans.

Meanwhile, all RPU energy customers who commit to being Power Partners this summer will be able to sign up for email and/or text alerts from the city and the utility that will inform them of when conservation efforts will be needed. For complete details on how to become a Power Partner, and how to sign up, visit online at http://www.RiversidePublicUtilities.com/PowerPartners

While RPU is hoping that natural gas curtailments will not occur, the combined preparations and commitments of its Power Partners will help to reduce the demands on the regional energy grid and lessen the likelihood of any planned temporary outages.