Even more Rancho Palos Verdes homes to have power turned off
Yet another chunk of Rancho Palos Verdes homes will lose power this week, marking just the latest in a recent trend of major utility providers pulling out of the area due to the continued land movement.
Southern California Edison officials announced the move on Sunday, noting that 54 more homes in the lower Portuguese Bend Beach Club will have their electricity shut off at 6 p.m. on Monday. Additionally, Cox Communication will also disconnect from 146 customers in the Portuguese Bend Community Association.
Both companies say that they have already alerted the customers that will be affected.
This move comes just a week after SCE first announced their plan to remove power service to 140 homes last Sunday, adding an additional 105 homes the next day. Nearly 50 of those however had their service restored within 24 hours of that shut off as crews repaired a faulty line in the area.
Read more: Rancho Palos Verdes faces deeper, larger landslide threat, city report says
On Friday, SoCalGas also cut off their service at 29 homes in the western Seaview area and 25 homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club. Officials said that a "sudden gas line break" happened on Exultant Drive, which prompted their immediate decision.
"There is no way to safely continue gas service to 16 homes on Admirable Drive, eight homes on Dauntless Drive and five homes on Palos Verdes Drive," the company said in a statement.
Earlier this year, they made a similar choice for more than 130 homes in the Portuguese Bend area because of a similar issue.
"At this time, SoCalGas does not know when it will be safe to restore service to these communities," the company said at the time. "We understand this situation remains difficult and uncertain for many in the community."
While no evacuation order is in place for Rancho Palos Verdes residents living in the area worst affected by the continued land movement, city officials have warned everyone to be ready because of how "dynamic" the situation is.
Despite this, most have remained in their homes, often meeting with city officials to try and find an answer to the pressing issue.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for the region, allowing the city to use state resources to assist in their response.
"The Governor's Office of Emergency Services has been coordinating with the city and county for nearly a year to support the response to the land movement, including providing technical assistance, supporting the local assistance center, facilitating a federal mitigation grant for groundwater work in the area, and helping officials with initial damage estimates," said Newsom's statement.
Land movement has caused severe problems since early 2023, when heavy rains soaked the area, causing an ever-moving landslide to accelerate, damaging homes and roads.
In February, the famous Wayfarers Chapel announced that they would be closing due to the structural damage sustained from the land movement.
"There is no playbook for an emergency like this one," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn during a press conference last week. "We're sparing no expense. ... This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes. The land movement is so gigantic and so damaging that one city should not have to bear the burden alone."
She estimates that they will need more than $1 billion in government funding to address the evolving situation in coming years.