Thousands of Southern California residents remain without power Sunday, Sept. 8 as excessive heat continues to take a toll on the region.
As of 6 a.m. Southern California Edison was reporting 28 outages affecting 1,461 customers in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported at 2 p.m. Saturday there were 7,042 customers without power and around 100 outage incidents in mainly residential areas. No updated figures had been posted as of 6 a.m.
“It will take time for crews to respond to and restore all affected areas as safely as possible, the LADWP posted at 4:45 p.m. Saturday. “Please be patient with us as our crews continue to work around the clock.”
The LADWP reported about 8:15 p.m. Saturday that it could take 12-24 hours from the start of an outage to restore power.
LADWP customers can check the locations and status of outages at ladwp.com/outages, and SCE customers can get updates at sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status.
Los Angeles officials were urging DWP customers to report power outages to 800-DIAL DWP (800-342-5397) or ladwp.com/outages immediately. The DWP needs the real-time information to deploy crews to restore electricity as quickly as possible.
SCE customers can report an outage at sce.com/outage-center/report-an-outage.
Residents are also urged to conserve power during the peak afternoon and early evening hours to avoid blackouts.
“Stay safe and cool by adjusting your thermostats to 78,” the DWP advised. “If you’re away from your home, turn your AC systems off.”
The utility also recommends using major appliances such as washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and dishwashers before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m., or not at all if possible until the heat waves passes.
Some students at homes near USC’s University Park campus lost power around 9:30 p.m. Friday, and other outages cut power to thousands more in the surrounding areas, including Mount St. Mary’s University, West Adams and Exposition Park.
The campus itself did not lose power.
“Power on the UPC (main) Campus is currently operational,” the university wrote in an alert Friday. “LADWP is working to restore service.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information from around the region becomes available.
Soaring temperatures to remain on tap for Southern California this weekend
