shutoff

The first Santa Anas of the season triggered a power shutoff for thousands of Southern Californians on Wednesday as utilities, firefighters and health officials were put on alert for impacts from the strong winds and unseasonably warm temperatures.

More than 2,000 Southern California Edison customers lost power as part of a public safety power shutoff, utility officials said, and another 22,373 shutoffs for customers were being considered.

Robert McCullough, a veteran energy analyst who has studied decades of wildfires caused by electrical companies, said that in the 2022 study Edison was warned that “there might be some bad ramifications” of such a power shutoff, including “a surge along these major transmission lines.”

“The thing that has been different, overall, this year is that we have had communities that are not used to undergoing a public safety power shutoff having them, for some people for first time ever; for others, for the first time in recent memory,” he said.

The first severe windstorm that started Jan. 7 prompted a public safety shutoff and also damaged a line servicing the area, requiring repairs, he said.