Utility work crews are trying to figure out what caused a power outage that left more than 1,400 Southern California Edison customers along Soledad Canyon Road without electricity Monday morning.
The Canyon Country blackout happened shortly after 7 a.m. when the power went out and didn’t come back on for about one and half hours.
Asked if perhaps strong winds sent tree limbs crashing onto power lines, a representative for Southern California Edison said: “We have not identified the exact cause of the outage yet but it did not involve any equipment failure or downed power lines.”
Edison spokeswoman Sally Jeun, said “We’re still looking into it.
“This outage happened at 7:01 a.m., and impacted 1,432 people,” Jeun said. “Everyone had restored power at 8:28 a.m.”
Homes and businesses between Sierra Highway and Spring Brook Avenue, and between Honby and Diamond Place were without power, Jeun said.
Jeun pointed to a news release on strong wind preparations issued Monday.
Strong Santa Ana winds with gusts up to 70 miles per hour were expected to blow through Southern California starting today and are expected to last several days before subsiding later this week.
The National Weather Service, according to Edison officials, called this the “strongest and longest duration Santa Ana event we have seen so far this season.
” The Service also issued red flag warnings for most counties in Southern California.
High winds can sometimes damage power lines and equipment if hit by flying and falling debris. SCE reminds its customers to never approach or touch a downed power line or dangling wire or anything in contact with them — even if it appears not to be live — and to call 911 immediately. Traffic signals may be out so approach those intersections as four-way stops.
“We will be closely monitoring the wind conditions this week and SCE has crews ready to respond in case of any additional outages or possible downed wires,” Jim Cherrie, SCE director of Grid Operations, was quoted as saying in the news release.
“We want to make sure we are ahead of this Santa Ana event.”
If power outages occur due to high winds, the extreme conditions may necessitate longer restoration times.
When the National Weather Service calls for Red Flag warnings, disconnected electric circuits will not be automatically re-energized by SCE in high-fire areas, Monday’s news release said.
Instead, SCE would physically patrol and inspect the lines before they are re-energized.
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