Power cut off to 140 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes because of landslide danger

Southern California Edison shut off power to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes on Sunday as continued ground movement created unsafe conditions, prompting an evacuation warning.

It was another blow to residents of the neighborhood, who lost gas service weeks ago.

“The ground movement there has created such a dangerous situation that we have to make this difficult decision to cut power indefinitely,” said David Eisenhower, a SoCal Edison spokesman.

“We never want to turn off the power unless we absolutely have to,” he said. “In this case, we absolutely must. We have a responsibility that goes beyond providing electric service, and that responsibility is safety: the safety of the community and the safety of our teams.”

Eisenhauer declined to speculate when power might be restored to affected homes.

He said that the situation keeps changing. “Our responsibility is safety first.”

The city has issued an evacuation alert for the neighborhood, which means residents need to start preparing to leave.

“If you have animals, children, or need extra time to evacuate, now is the time to evacuate,” the city said on social platform X. The city said an evacuation order would mean residents must leave immediately.

“If and when we do have to evacuate because it’s difficult for our residents to live there, we’ll go door-to-door with the sheriff’s department to make sure that those who remain,” said City Councilman Dave Bradley. If they are, they should do so safely”.

Recently, ground movement in the area has been recorded at an extraordinary rate: up to one foot a week. This has created increasing challenges for residents, first responders, city officials and utilities, as infrastructure damage and safety concerns mount.

Homes that lost power were notified of the impending shutdown on Saturday. These residents are the same ones whose gas service was disconnected about a month ago.

Portuguese Bend resident Mike Hong said Saturday that he only learned about the impending shutdown about an hour ago.

“They’re giving us less time than the gas company,” said Hong, who is cooking with hot plates, an option that will expire Sunday. “Don’t leave us. Where’s the humanity in that?”

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Power cut off to 140 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes because of landslide danger

SoCal Edison warned residents that this is a possibility after gas service is shut off. Eisenhower said there were no issues that led to the decision, but said it was made to “keep the community safe.”

On Thursday, a small fire broke out near Narcissa Drive in Portuguese Bend. Eisenhauer said it started after a power line fell and ignited nearby vegetation. Although the fire was brought under control quickly, he said the incident showed the dangerous situation.

“We know this is a difficult time for Rancho Palos Verdes and we are looking for ways to keep the power flowing,” Eisenhower said. “Currently the ground movement has created such a dangerous situation that we have to make the difficult decision to cut power indefinitely.”

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Eisenhauer said there are no other immediate plans to extend power outages to nearby neighborhoods experiencing earth movement, but said it’s a fluid situation that the utility is “constantly monitoring.”

He said SoCal Edison will have a “community crew vehicle” in the neighborhood through Sunday with water and information for residents. He said the utility is not providing generators because the ground in most places is not stable enough to install them.

City officials have said the lack of power will create new safety issues, as electricity is key to telecommunications lines, sewage systems and a fleet of pumps that pump out groundwater to slow ongoing ground movement. It helps in what geologists say.

The neighborhood still has a functioning sewer system because the city installed portable generators purchased by the Portuguese Bend Community Assn. to power the sewage lift system, City Manager Ara Mehranian said.

Officials with California Water Service, which supplies water to the area, have said they have no plans to shut off their service, but it’s unclear if that has changed in recent days.

Councilman Bradley said outside help will be needed to effectively respond to the slide.

“It’s much bigger than the city, and without the help of our partners at the county, state and federal level we can’t come up with real solutions to stop land movement,” he said.

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