Power to be restored to some homes in Rancho Palos Verdes amid destructive landslide

After an ongoing landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes threatened dozens of homes, officials announced electricity would be restored to some areas after residents had gone without power and gas for months.

Power was initially shut off in early September. Gas was turned off indefinitely to over 200 homes, with the first wave of shut-offs beginning in July. Local officials cited the “worsening land movement” as creating unsafe conditions to continue providing natural gas service.

For months, the continuous land movement split roadways, damaged houses, and destroyed infrastructure across the Portuguese Bend area.

In September, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency as the city worked to mitigate the damage from the slow-motion natural disaster, which has displaced many residents in the community.

Since then, city officials said land movement has slowed and Southern California Edison announced power would be restored to 28 homes in the western portion of the Seaview community and parts of Portuguese Bend. Restoration will occur one house at a time over the next week.

“We have been looking with a great degree of specific attention at the area, looking at where the land movement has continued, where it had slowed down and how the land movement has affected the SCE infrastructure there, so it’s based on those assessments that we’ve identified this small pocket of customers whose homes can be re-energized,” said Jeffrey Monford, a SoCal Edison spokesperson.

City officials have been conducting deep-well dewatering operations at the Portuguese Bend Beach Club in an attempt to stabilize the threat.

“The deep wells are basically pulling water out to relieve that water pressure underneath that second slip plane and by relieving that water pressure, we’re actually able to reduce the amount of movement in that area,” said John Cruikshank, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Over 250 homes still remain without power and there are no immediate plans to reinstate gas services to affected properties at this time.

“We know this is an extraordinary hardship for everyone involved,” Monford said.

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