Banning, Beaumont SCE Customers: Power Shutoff Possible

BEAUMONT, CA — As more than a half million people in Northern California face planned power outages beginning Wednesday amid strong winds and fire weather, the major utility company here in Southern California is warning residents that we, too, may face these cuts.

Southern California Edison customers throughout the Pass Area may be without power during the upcoming Santa Ana wind event, the utility cautioned. Proactive power shutoffs — known as "public safety power shutoffs" — are SCE's response to head off fire risk, in advance of potential downed power lines that are known to have sparked wildfires in the past.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning that will be in effect from 3 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday in the Coachella Valley and from 3 a.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday in the Riverside metropolitan area, the Riverside county mountains and the San Gorgonio Pass near Banning.

Winds could reach 30 mph Wednesday in the Coachella Valley and 20 mph in the Inland Empire.

High temperatures Wednesday could reach 95 degrees in the Coachella Valley, 93 in the San Gorgonio Pass near Banning, 81 in Riverside, 73 in Temecula and 80 in Hemet.

That said, SoCal Edison warned that customers throughout its service area could lose power as they de-energize power lines that might be damaged in high winds and spark fires. As of Wednesday morning, no shutoffs had been ordered in SCE's service area, but nearly 174,000 customers were in areas that are "under consideration" for power cuts.

There was no immediate timeline of when the outages could start or end.

In Riverside County, more than 22,300 SCE customers are in areas that could be affected. The agency said the following communities should be prepared for possible power outages (click link for map of where outages could affect the community):

• Banning
• Beaumont
• Calimesa
• Hemet
• San Jacinto
• Menifee
• Moreno Valley
• Perris
• Riverside
• Unincorporated Riverside County including the communities of Whitewater and Bonnie Bell, Banning Pass, Cabazon, Owl, portions of Desert Hills Outlet Mall, North Palm Springs, Gilman Hot Springs, Lakeview, Nuevo, Mons, Mead Valley, Eden Hot Springs, Mountain Center, Good Hope and unincorporated ares of Beaumont, Banning and Riverside County.

Also in the Pass Area, but in San Bernardino County, Yucaipa is under advisory.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.