Power Restored On Point Dume, Piuma Road

MALIBU, CA —Two sections of Malibu lost power Friday due to an SCE Public Safety Power Shutoff. The area from Paradise Cove, through the Point Dume neighborhood down to Zuma Beach, and up to Ramirez Canyon, known as the Cuthbert Circuit, lost power early Friday morning. The same area also had its power shut off in December and October 2020.

A smaller pocket near the intersection of Piuma Road and Rambla Pacifico Street, near Las Flores Canyon Road, were also without power for much of Friday, when power was restored.

SCE is unable to say how many people in Malibu are currently without power or when exactly the power went out, but on Dec. 8, when Point Dume lost power for the second time in a week, 2,300 residents reportedly lost power, so the current number should be slightly higher than that.

Shutoffs have also been initiated in parts of Simi Valley, Moorpark, Fillmore, and Santa Clarita. SCE says that it began de-energizing about 2,605 customers in Los Angeles (2028)and Riverside Counties (577) around 1:30 a.m. Friday. As of Friday morning there were 6,369 customers without power in Los Angeles(2568), Riverside (2,597), San Bernardino (1,162) and Ventura (42) Counties, according to SCE

27 customers also lost power in an unplanned outage around South Bardman Avenue near Mullholland Highway, near Arroyo Sequit Park. According to SCE, the outage was due to "upgrading equipment," and has been restored, though another outage on Brown Latigo Street near the Saddle Peak Trail in an unincorporated area is affecting 8 people as of 5 p.m. Friday.

SCE began initiating these controversial power shutoffs in 2018 in areas placed under Red Flag warnings, when a combination of high temperatures, high winds, and low humidity increase the risk of fires. As of Friday at 11 a.m., it is 79 degrees in Malibu, with 11 percent humidity, and winds of 22 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The high is an unseasonably warm 85 degrees, and winds may reach 30 miles per hour in some areas.

Malibu was placed under a Red Flag Warning Thursday at 4 p.m. that was supposed to last until Friday at 4 p.m but has been extended until Saturday at 4.

"We fully realize that PSPS events significantly impact our customer’s daily lives and create hardships on our customers and communities – a burden that is even more consequential with so many customers working and learning from home," Roether wrote in an email. "Some customers are facing multiple continual high wind days as winds are expected to continue into next week. While extended outages are possible, we will make every effort to temporarily restore power to affected customers (even for a short period of time) as breaks in the weather conditions permit and it is safe to reenergize."

SCE said that it notified all affected customers on their cell phones 48 hours in advance. The city released a statement with tips for staying safe during a shutoff, including keeping battery-operated flashlights and cash on-hand, filling up car with gas, beforehand, keeping refrigerators closed and buying ice to keep them cool, throwing away food exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours, and discarding any medication that must be refrigerated. For a full list of tips, see the city's release, and tips from SCE.

The City Hall phone line (310-456-2489) is staffed 24 hours a day for as long as the shutoff persists, and KBUU Radio at 99.1 FM will provide continual updates.