Residents across Santa Barbara County may face power outages during the next couple of days related to weather conditions threatening power lines.
Southern California Edison announced Thursday that it may conduct public safety power shutoffs on Friday and Saturday because of strong winds that could topple power lines and start wildfires.
The announcement was shared in a post by the Office of Emergency Management on X. Jackie Ruiz, the public information officer for OEM, said the county is not in charge of the decision to issue power shutoffs but shared the information to keep residents informed.
According to David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, the outages could affect up to 2,557 customers during the next two days.
Eisenhauer added that SCE wasn’t sure how long any outages would last and that it would be dependent on the winds and conditions on the ground. The ground in the affected areas did not receive much water during recent storms, making the vegetation drier than usual.
The shutdowns are intended to prevent fires by cutting power to electrical wires or equipment that the wind could knock down.
The National Weather Service is predicting increased chances for windy weather along the California coast and in mountain areas. It is expected to grow on Friday and Saturday, with fire risks increasing over the weekend.
“We have to wait for those conditions to subside and then we need to patrol the lines to make sure there was no damage on those lines, and (…) after we do those patrols (and) repair any damage, that’s when we will be able to turn the power back on,” Eisenhauer said.
“So, it really depends on the conditions.”
Eisenhauer also asked that residents be careful if they see downed power lines in their area and to stay away from them. He said the best thing to do is assume the cable is live, stay 100 feet away and call 911.
Ruiz also recommended that Santa Barbara County residents sign up for ReadySBC or update their contact information to get the latest information.
Residents can check to see if their address could be affected using the interactive map at sce.com. The website also can be used to access resources offered by SCE in cases of extended outages, such as hotel accommodations. The website will be updated if outages occur starting Friday.
“We understand these outages can be a hardship on our customers, and we will work hard to get power back on as safely as possible if we need to shut off power. These are a hardship,” Eisenhauer said. “However, we need to keep our community safe, and that’s why we sometimes need to conduct these public safety power shutoffs.”
