Gas service is cut to more homes in Rancho Palos Verdes amid landslide movement
Three days after Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes, gas service is set to be shut off to more homes Friday afternoon because of continued landslide movement.
Southern California Gas Co. will cut service to another 54 homes at 3 p.m. The utility said a "sudden gas line break" occurred Aug. 30 on Exultant Drive in the Seaview area, leading to the cutoff of 29 homes in the western Seaview area.
Issues with a separate gas line on Palos Verdes Drive South, which in July caused the discontinuation of gas service to 135 homes in the Portuguese Bend area, will now lead to a service shutoff to 25 homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club area on Friday.
"At this time, SoCalGas does not know when it will be safe to restore service to these communities," according to the Gas Co. "We understand this situation remains difficult and uncertain for many in the community. Emergency disaster relief may be available to customers affected by these shutoffs. More information about SoCalGas' Emergency Disaster Relief program can be found at socalgas.com/EDR.
The governor's state of emergency declaration on Tuesday came two days after power was shut off to hundreds of residents.
On Sunday, Southern California Edison cut power to 140 homes and 53 businesses in the Portuguese Bend area. On Monday, the power was cut to 105 more homes in the Sea View area, with 20 of those homes shut off indefinitely.
The governor's declaration acknowledged the Greater Portuguese Landslide Complex "has significantly accelerated following severe storms in 2023 and 2024...sliding at an average of 9 to 12 inches per week."
Rancho Palos Verdes city officials said there are no evacuation orders in place for the Seaview or Portuguese Bend Beach Club areas, so residents are free to remain in their homes, even if they have lost gas and electrical service.
While city leaders said previously that they are grateful for the state's involvement, they are hoping for more assistance.
"We appreciate the governor declaring a state of emergency. The money that would be allocated through the state of emergency is only for public entities, once again it would be the city government and our landslide abatement. It's not for individual homeowners yet," Mayor John Cruikshank said in a Sept. 4 interview.
He said the city is urging the governor to open up resources for individual residents. "They're really the ones that are going to have to make conversions. They've lost gas, they've lost power, they need to be off-grid, and they need to convert appliances so they can be off-grid," Cruikshank said.