California's three largest utilities are all considering shutting down power in regions where dangerously high winds are expected to increase the risk of wildfires this week.
More than 350,000 customers from Kern to San Diego counties could lose power during the planned safety shutdown. Parts of the region are under a red flag warning of “Extremely Dangerous Situation”, the highest fire weather warning.
Just last month, officials had warned of the same dangerous Santa Ana winds and low humidity when the Mountain fire ignited in Ventura County, and exploded into one of the most destructive fires in Southern California in recent history. The strong wind pushed the fire to nearby areas, eventually destroying more than 240 buildings, most of which are homes.
Southern California Edison is considering planned outages for more than 250,000 customers in a wide swath of its coverage area on Monday “due to the increased risk of wildfires.”
Most of the customers were in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where more than 40,000 in each county were without power. About 4,000 SCE customers in Kern County may also be without power.
David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for SCE, said the company could cut power any time between Monday and at least Wednesday, as wind is forecast to remain disturbed.
San Diego Gas & Electric is considering shutdowns for more than 117,000 customers throughout San Diego and Orange counties. The closure is likely to take place from noon Monday through Friday, the agency reported.
Pacific Gas & Electric was also considering outages for about 600 of its customers in rural Kern County, according to PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith. The company said the shutdown was likely at least Wednesday “due to strong winds and dry conditions.”
The practice of planned public safety power outages began after downed power lines were found to have started some of California's deadliest and most destructive fires. The protection strategy is used to try to keep electrical infrastructure from starting fires during high wind events.
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