Edison Again Issues Intentional Blackout Warnings For W. Malibu
Written by 991KBU on November 7, 2018
It appears that the second Santa Ana of the year — scheduled to arrive tomorrow — is enough to cause Southern California Edison to warn of possible blackouts for late Thursday and early Friday.
The forecast peak winds at midmorning was revised upward, for peak winds of 70 mph in the mountains of Malibu and vicinity. That is is up from 60 mph peak gusts predicted for tomorrow on Tuesday.
S C Edison says it might turn off power in parts of two circuits: Gallahad and Maguire. Gallahad is Point Dume, Maguire is basically Encinal Canyon Road above PCH. The outage thus equals the western end of Malibu, west of Trancas; plus the area near Kanan Dume Road, as east as Zumirez, extending about six miles inland into the mountain region north of Pacific Coast Highway.
It appears that SCE is not at this time planning to blackout for the Zuma Beach and Trancas areas – the Cuthbert Circuit.
The forecast now calls for a strong Santa Ana wind event to begin Thursday morning and continue through Friday evening. Peak winds will likely occur Thursday night into Friday morning when there will be the potential for gusts in the 40 to 50 mph range for the Malibu coast, and 60 to 70 mph in the mountains.
It will be bone dry, and temperatures will warm into the 80s below the mountains on Friday. There will be an overall break in the winds Saturday and Saturday night, however, another Santa Ana is expected to develop Sunday through Monday.
Last Oct. 15, a windstorm with top speeds of 60 mph knocked out power to 70 percent of Malibu before Edison could intentionally black out the area. Power was out for about 12 hours to most customers, and 20 hours for some.
Edison boasted to state regulators that only four customers complained about the intentional outages last time. Of course, it was during a wind emergency blackout that the notices went out, leaving most affected customers unable to call in complaints. Other did not know that SCE has a phone number available to complain about the intentional warnings.
To complain about the intentional blackout warning, call: 1-800-655-4555 and press 1 three times. If that person won’t take the complaint, try 800 251-3311.
On Tuesday, Edison notified about 30,000 customers of possible power shutoffs in portions of these communities in high fire risk areas:
San Bernardino, Phelan, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Lytle Creek, Rialto, Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, Altadena and Pasadena.
Citing updated meteorological forecasts, SCE extended those warnings to parts of the Santa Monica Mountains today, including Agoura Hills and Malibu, plus Castaic, Chatsworth, Irvine, Robinson Ranch, Simi Valley and Valencia.
The total number of customers who could be impacted by these possible power shutoffs is now approximately 53,000.
