Latest Edison Power Outage Resolved by Wednesday Night

The last 150 Southern California Edison customers who lost power at 5 a.m. Wednesday in San Marino finally had their electricity turned back on at 7:51 p.m., Southern California Edison told Patch.

They were the last of 4,400 customers whose power went out north of Huntington Drive, between Granada and Los Robles. All but 150 customers had their power back on by 8 a.m. Wednesday, said David Song, a spokesman for Southern California Edison.

Song attributed the outage to an "underground equipment failure." The outage was not related to the weather or to high winds, which are expected to kick in locally around 2 a.m. Thursday.

In anticipation of Wednesday night's winds, Edison also issued the following news release:

ROSEMEAD, Calif., Dec. 21, 2011--With high winds forecast today and Thursday, Southern California Edison (SCE) reminds its customers outages may occur--and to never approach or touch downed power lines.

Winds with gusts to 50 mph are forecast tonight through Thursday morning in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, primarily in the mountains, the Santa Clarita Valley, the Santa Monica Mountains and valley areas in Ventura County.

SCE will provide information about any outages at www.sce.com, on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SoCalEdison and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SoCalEdison.

Customer safety is a top priority for SCE. If you see a downed line or dangling wire--even if it appears not to be live--don't touch or approach it and call 911 immediately.

Here are important tips to keep in mind:

• Watch for traffic signals that may be out. Approach those intersections as four-way stops, as the law requires.
• Make sure you have a battery-operated radio and flashlights. Check the batteries to make sure they are fresh. Use flashlights for lighting during a power outage; do not use candles because they may pose a significant fire hazard.
• Do not use any equipment inside that is designed for outdoor heating or outdoor cooking. Such equipment can emit carbon monoxide and other toxic gases.
• If you use a generator, place it outdoors and plug individual appliances directly into the generator, using a heavy-duty extension cord. Connecting generators directly to household circuits creates "backfeed," which is dangerous to repair crews.
• Leave the doors of your refrigerator and freezer closed to keep your food as fresh as possible. Place blocks of ice inside to help keep food cold. Check food carefully for signs of spoilage.
• Check on your neighbors to make sure everyone is safe.

A video and fact sheet about power line safety is available at: www.sce.com/powerlines. The information is available in Spanish at: www.sce.com/cables.

Read San Marino Patch coverage of power outages and Edison's response following last month's wind storm.