More than 22,000 Long Beach residents temporarily lost electricity Sunday evening as temperatures reached 93 degrees and Southern California faced an extreme heat watch.
Long Beach Power Outage Hits 22,000 Customers
A Southern California Edison outage began around 6:40 p.m. PDT, affecting 22,066 customers at its peak, reported CBS News.
SCE deployed additional crews and resources to troubleshoot the outage and restore service.
A company spokesperson said, "Our crews are focused on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible and then we will look into the cause."
By 11 p.m., the number of affected customers had fallen to 14,057.
However, SCE had not provided an estimated restoration time.
Shares of Southern California Edison’s parent company, Edison International (NYSE:EIX), edged up by 0.32% in overnight trading.
SCE Crews Race to Restore Power
The outage affected an area bounded by Quincy Avenue to the east, Alamitos Avenue to the west, E. Ocean Boulevard to the north and E. 7th Street to the south.
The cause of the outage remained unclear as crews worked to restore electricity.
Extreme Heat and Wildfire Risks
In July, the Trump administration declared a power emergency as a major heat wave threatened millions of Americans, with the PJM Interconnection authorized to increase power generation to maintain grid reliability.
Economist Robert Reich warned that more than 200 million Americans faced heat advisories and criticized weakened OSHA enforcement for leaving outdoor, warehouse and delivery workers vulnerable to extreme heat.
Last year, California’s $21 billion wildfire insurance fund faced potential depletion if Southern California Edison was found liable for the Eaton Fire.
The blaze burned more than 58 square miles, destroyed about 16,000 structures and killed 29 people.
Consultants estimated insured losses at $8 billion to $13 billion, with total losses potentially rising by another 20% to 25%.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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