More than 170,000 Southern California Edison customers were without power as of late afternoon Friday as multiple fires and extreme winds have led to outages throughout the week.
The utility provider said that more than half of the outages were part of the public safety power shutoff program and that due to unsafe conditions, restoration may take longer than usual, according to post on X on Friday.
A public safety power shutoff is when power is temporarily shut off during “dangerous weather conditions to prevent our electric system from becoming a source of ignition,” according to Southern California Edison.
It comes as more than 400,000 Southern California Edison customers were without power earlier this week, and tens of thousands were at risk of seeing their power being shutoff. Southern California Edison provides electricity to 15 million people across the state’s south, central, and coastal regions, according to a news release.
In Riverside County, over 59,000 customers were experiencing public safety power shutoffs as of 10 a.m. Saturday, and more than 60,000 customers in the county were being considered for power safety shutoffs, according to Southern California Edison’s current public safety power shutoffs status.
Here is a general look at power outages in the Coachella Valley and surrounding desert and mountain areas as of 10 a.m. Saturday.
Coachella Valley
There are multiple scheduled power outages throughout the Coachella Valley, including in Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Palm Desert. However, a brief look through the scheduled outages shows that they are labeled as maintenance outages, some occurring next week and appearing to be for specific properties and areas.
San Gorgonio Pass
Parts of the San Gorgonio Pass are experiencing power shutoffs and face warnings. Power is shut off for Cabazon and extends toward the Morongo Reservation. A portion of state Route 243 toward Banning, and some of the area west of it, are also experiencing a power shut off.
The western portion of Beaumont has its power shut off. Parts of Beaumont, closer to Interstate-10, are under a power shutoff warning due to increased fire risk conditions expected in the area, although when those increased fire risk conditions are expected to vary. For example, one part of Beaumont faces increased fire risk conditions Saturday through Wednesday, whereas another area of Beaumont will see increased fire risk conditions beginning Monday.
Idyllwild
There are several scheduled power outages for the Idyllwild, Pine Cove, and Fern Valley areas, although all are labeled as maintenance outages and will occur within the next two weeks. Mountain Center is experiencing a power shutoff, with fire conditions expected through Wednesday.
High Desert
Portions of Morongo Valley face a power warning shutoff. There are also multiple scheduled power outages for the Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley areas and Twentynine Palms. However, a brief look into these scheduled power outages appear that these outages are for specific areas and are labeled as maintenance outages that begin on varying dates this month.
Is the power out near me?
You can use Southern California Edison’s power outage map to determine if the area you reside or work in is facing a power outage or shutoff. Visit sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status and enter in your address to check.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: See the latest power outages for Coachella Valley area due to fires