SoCalGas shuts off natural gas service to Rancho Palos Verdes due to "worsening land movement"

SoCalGas cut off natural gas service to the Portuguese Bend community of Rancho Palos Verdes Monday morning due to continued land movement in the area. 

The discontinuation was announced Friday, saying gas service would end at 9 a.m. Monday, leaving nearly 130 homes in the area without the common utility. 

"Due to worsening land movement, SoCalGas has determined it is unsafe to continue providing natural gas service in your community," said a statement from the company released on Saturday. "We apologize for this unexpected disruption of service. This dynamic situation requires we take immediate action to protect public safety."

They claim that despite a considerable amount of measures taken to fix the situation, the constantly moving land has created a threat to public safety. 

Some of that work included relocating more than 600 feet of pipeline to respond to the land movement, installing flexible joint lines and a new isolation valve that allows them to "quickly shut off the community" in case of an emergency and performing accelerated leak inspections intervals.  

Residents spent the weekend hustling to find propane and electric alternatives so they could stay in their homes, according to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. 

The city did not order evacuations because gas leaks had not been detected and they requested a delay to give residents more time to secure gas alternatives. 

"Residents can choose to stay in their homes without gas service. No evacuation warnings or orders are in place at this time," the city said in a statement. "However, in the coming days, the City will begin property inspections through voluntary compliance in the interest of public safety."  

The utility announced Monday that it is providing all impacted customers with $2,500 to help them secure alternatives. 

"We know this is difficult for the community, especially given the current uncertainty about future natural gas service and the continued land movement," SoCalGas Senior Vice President and Chief Infrastructure Officer
Rodger Schwecke said in a statement. "We want to help our customers meet some of their immediate needs, whether that's laundry or meals, or to help residents with longer term appliance choices." 

On Monday, resident Tom Keefer was working to replace gas appliances in his home. He swapped out his gas water heater for electric, but to make all the necessary conversions, he estimated the cost to be around $20,000. "So the scramble is on," Keefer said.

SoCalGas claims that the situation has placed "significant strain" on their infrastructure since late last year, when the devastating string of land movement started to have a considerable impact on the area. 

In the time since, several homes and roads have been destroyed or red-tagged by building safety officials, including the famous Wayfarers Chapel, or Glass Church.

The ever-changing situation received an emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom in early 2024. 

SoCalGas officials say that the closure could go into effect even earlier if the situation undergoes a dramatic change. 

"Please do not attempt to restore service or to connect alternative fuels like CNG or propane to your natural gas meter," the statement said. "Doing so is unsafe."

A slew of people living in the area, which impacts 20 streets, are up in arms over the decision, which comes at the tail end of a long list of issues they've had with their living situation in the last year. 

"Now, all the sudden, it's a emergency that they have to deal with in three days? I don't get that," said Gordon Leon, a Rancho Palos Verdes resident who recently had his own natural gas service shut off six weeks ago in a similar incident. "All of this has been known for some time. It's not like yesterday it all the sudden moved and made a dangerous situation."

They also say that work is underway to secure temporary housing accommodations and individual financial assistance from local, state and federal agencies. 

"This is a big problem. I understand the risks, but I believe residents needed more time and better outreach to prepare for their gas to be disconnected," said LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn on Saturday. "The County's Department of Public Works and our Office of Emergency Management stand ready to assist these residents in anyway we can."

Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor John Cruikshank says he's concerned that this will just be the first domino to fall. 

"If electricity and water were to shut off their service, then you're really talking about people being forced to leave their homes," he said. 

Cruikshank also said that SoCal gas will also be hosting a closed-door meeting on Monday morning, inviting other utility companies, city leaders like Supervisor Hahn and Rep. Ted Liu to discuss the ongoing problem.