Power outage in South Bay affects 100,000 customers, cause still under investigation
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A power outage caused by downed power lines near the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance left nearly 100,000 customers in the South Bay without electricity Sunday morning, according to Southern California Edison.
The outage began at 7:06 a.m. Some areas had power restored about an hour later.
Power lines were down near 190th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance and emergency crews were working to resolve the problem, said SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre. Manfre could not say what the caused the downed power lines but said they’ve ruled out a car crash.
Torrance police Lt. Devin Chase said in addition to power lines being down, a transformer is also out.
“We still don’t know what caused it; whether a power line fell and that caused the transformer to blow, or a transformer blew and that caused the lines to fall,” Chase said. “That’s all we do know right now.”
The outage does not appear to be related to the ExxonMobil refinery and the refinery has indicated to the department that their operations have not been affected by the outage, Chase said. There was no visible flare at the plant at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The utility also turned off the power at substations as a safety measure, which increased the number of people affected by the outages. Manfre could not say when power would be fully restored.
“We have emergency crews on site and we’re sending more crews there,” Manfre said. “We won’t re-energize (turn the power back on) until we’re very clear that those downed wires can be isolated. That’s a safety issue.”
On its Twitter feed, SCE said it has half a dozen crews working to restore power in the South Bay.
Chase said Torrance police are manning numerous intersections throughout the city to assist with traffic control. They’ve had a couple of minor traffic collisions as a result of the outages Sunday, but there were no injuries, Chase said.
Chase urged the public to avoid driving in the area of the outages. If you have to drive and find traffic signals that are out, “it should be treated as a four-way stop. You should stop at the intersection and proceed with caution,” he said.
Police in Gardena also said numerous traffic signals were out, and that crews were placing temporary stop signs at the affected intersections.
Outages were reported in most of Torrance as well as in Gardena, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, northwest San Pedro and Rolling Hills Estates.
Manfre recommended that people leave their refrigerator closed as much as possible and said generators should only be used by people who know how to use them properly. People should also check in on their neighbors to make sure they are OK.
“We’re working to get power back on as quickly as possible,” she said.
A power outage caused by downed power lines near the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance left nearly 100,000 customers in the South Bay without electricity Sunday morning, according to Southern California Edison.
The outage began at 7:06 a.m. Some areas had power restored about an hour later.
Power lines were down near 190th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance and emergency crews were working to resolve the problem, said SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre. Manfre could not say what the caused the downed power lines but said they’ve ruled out a car crash.
Torrance police Lt. Devin Chase said in addition to power lines being down, a transformer is also out.
“We still don’t know what caused it; whether a power line fell and that caused the transformer to blow, or a transformer blew and that caused the lines to fall,” Chase said. “That’s all we do know right now.”
The outage does not appear to be related to the ExxonMobil refinery and the refinery has indicated to the department that their operations have not been affected by the outage, Chase said. There was no visible flare at the plant at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The utility also turned off the power at substations as a safety measure, which increased the number of people affected by the outages. Manfre could not say when power would be fully restored.
“We have emergency crews on site and we’re sending more crews there,” Manfre said. “We won’t re-energize (turn the power back on) until we’re very clear that those downed wires can be isolated. That’s a safety issue.”
On its Twitter feed, SCE said it has half a dozen crews working to restore power in the South Bay.
Chase said Torrance police are manning numerous intersections throughout the city to assist with traffic control. They’ve had a couple of minor traffic collisions as a result of the outages Sunday, but there were no injuries, Chase said.
Chase urged the public to avoid driving in the area of the outages. If you have to drive and find traffic signals that are out, “it should be treated as a four-way stop. You should stop at the intersection and proceed with caution,” he said.
Police in Gardena also said numerous traffic signals were out, and that crews were placing temporary stop signs at the affected intersections.
Outages were reported in most of Torrance as well as in Gardena, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, northwest San Pedro and Rolling Hills Estates.
Manfre recommended that people leave their refrigerator closed as much as possible and said generators should only be used by people who know how to use them properly. People should also check in on their neighbors to make sure they are OK.
“We’re working to get power back on as quickly as possible,” she said.
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