SCE official says restoring power 'could take several days'

 The City of Menifee provided an update on power outages with this Facebook graphic on Wednesday.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Calling it an “unprecedented situation”, a Southern California Edison spokesperson said today that although the timetable for restoring power is uncertain, it could take “several days” to return power to affected residents in Menifee and throughout Southern California.

Jeff Monford told Menifee 24/7 that approximately 327,000 SCE customers are without power throughout the Southland. About half of those had their power turned off as a precaution because of the high winds that began affecting the area on Tuesday. The rest lost power because of equipment damaged by the wind and other factors.

Monford did not have numbers on those without power in Menifee, but he acknowledged that it can be confusing for residents who are without power while neighbors close by have it. Most of the local power outages are because of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), which is action taken by SCE in areas where it is possible that power lines could be damaged and possibly spark fires.

The SCE website states that PSPS actions are taken in areas “in which we may temporarily shut off power to your neighborhood during dangerous weather conditions to prevent our electric system from becoming a source of ignition. These safety shutoffs are a measure of last resort for keeping you and your community safe.”

Monford said that once a severe weather condition such as windstorm is present, SCE considers a PSPS in areas where conditions are most potentially dangerous.

“We assess fuel on the ground, the vegetation in the area, humidity, and wind speed,” Monford said. “It might be calm in one place and not in another place nearby. In some cases, a line might be turned off before the debris can become airborne and cause a spark. The decision [on whether to institute a PSPS] depends on the condition of the areas through which power lines travel.

“Menifee has a lot of farmland and steep hills. We tend to see the need for PSPS more in hilly areas. Plus this week is an unprecedented situation. Restoring power could take several days. It comes down to the need for inspections.”

Monford did not have information on the number of inspection crews that are now working in Menifee prior to the restoration of power. He could not give an estimate on when power would be restored.

Meanwhile, residents are posting on social media that they are being given various estimates for the restoration of power, ranging from later today to early next week. In addition, some residents have received emails warning them that their power could be shut off later today as the wind increases.

“Crews are restoring power as quickly as is safely possible,” Monford said. “The lines all have to be inspected to make sure there is no debris in them. This requires boots on the ground, crews with binoculars, the use of drones and helicopters. We are working on this in six counties. We’re also getting help from PG&E to restore power.

“There are some positive things in all this. We previously added switches to the grid so we can operate in small sections and allow for fewer PSPS actions – until this week. This is a historic wind event. Also, we have replaced a lot of bare wire with covered conductors. Believe it or not, this could have been considerably more difficult had we not had more stations and covered conductors."

Monford said residents may be able to receive updates on the sce.com website, although the outage map has crashed at least once because it was overwhelmed with traffic. He also said that "it is my understanding that SCE does not pay claims for situations having to do with the weather", referring to residents' requests for compensation for lost food, etc.

City of Menifee spokesman Phil Southard said that city officials are in constant contact with SCE in monitoring the situation. No information about closed businesses was available as of 2 p.m. today. Liberty High School is without power, and classes are scheduled to resume on Monday.

Menifee residents are reminded that the City of Menifee has an emergency management website with information about how to prepare for power outages, assemble an emergency kit, etc. That website can be accessed here:

Menifee Emergency Management