Power shortages were reported in California, Missouri and New York, with the mercury hitting an unprecedented 48 degrees C (119 degrees F) over the weekend in Woodland Hills, part of the sprawling Los Angeles metropolitan region.

"This is clearly a historic weather pattern that we have not seen in 57 years," said Joe Desmond, undersecretary of energy affairs at the California Resources Agency.

"Voluntary conservation is making the key difference right now," he said after two days of power outages that stretched up the Pacific Coast, from Los Angeles in the south to San Francisco to the north and into California's Central Valley.

The heat knocked out the Los Angeles-based servers for the hugely popular personal web page host MySpace for several hours Monday after an area power outage and a backup generator failed, the company said.

In the Midwestern state of Missouri, 159,000 people remained without electricity amid boiling heat and humidity in the wake of two thunderstorms that hit the region over the past week and shut down power supplies.

And in New York City, where at least 6,000 people and 750 businesses in the Borough of Queens have been without electricity for nine days, an antiquated power grid has provoked bitter reactions among city residents.

The Los Angeles Times reported 13 heat-related deaths in California's Central Valley and four in southern California, mostly among the elderly.

High temperatures in Los Angeles averaged near 38 degrees C (100 degrees F) over the past two weeks, driving air conditioner use and taking nearly all of the state's electricity generation capacity.

California has a population of 36.1 million. Electricity demand hit a record 50,538 megawatts on Monday.

"We are happy we got through yesterday (Monday), but please do not stop the conservation efforts," said Yakout Mansour, the chief executive officer of the Independent System Operator, which manages most of California's electricity grid.

Heat also helped a fire in a southern California forest to double in size over the past 24 hours, scorching some 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres), officials said Tuesday.

The blaze, which spread through the Cleveland National Forest 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of San Diego, was ignited Sunday by a campfire according to the California Department of Forestry (CDF). Spokeswoman Roxanne Provaznik said, "As the day heats up, we expect the same parts of the fire to come to life," she said.

California has lived under a power cuts threat since a 2001 crisis that was blamed in part on deregulation of the electricity sector.

Some parts of the electricity network date back to the 1930s. Los Angeles officials acknowledge that some stress stems from a lack of investment going back years.

On the opposite side of the country, close to 100,000 people in New York City were without power over the weekend one week after city power supplier Consolidated Edison was hit by breakdowns.

Some streets were taken over by refugees from the blackouts, with the Red Cross providing food, water and ice to people seeking relief from the heat. Doctors made their rounds along sidewalks, while residents vented frustration with city authorities.

"It's surreal. This is New York City and it shouldn't be this way with the taxes and utility bills we pay," Peter Hidasi, a Queens resident, told the USA Today daily.

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