Thousands of Californians could once again be without power in the coming days as Southern California Edison mulls shutting off electricity to customers in an attempt to avoid wildfires sparked by windblown power lines.
Roughly 32,500 customers in six counties, including Inyo, Mono, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino, could lose power as early as Thursday as wind picks up across the inland portion of the state, said Robert Villegas, an SCE spokesman.
Inland regions are expected to see a rapid onset of westerly winds of 10 to 15 mph on Thursday with gusts up to 30 mph that could last through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.High winds paired with relatively low humidity can turn a fuel into a raging inferno, heightening concerns from utility companies whose power equipment has been linked to some of the state’s most devastating wildfires.
last week. Edison also cut power to roughly 24,000 customers in a few selected areas, affecting far fewer people than PG&E’s outages. However, PG&E contends it made the right decision to shut off electricity. The company reported more than 100 incidents of damage to their equipment during last week’s windy weather. The damage and hazards they found “represented potential sources of wildfire ignition,” according to the company.
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