Working another night under extreme conditions, crews restore power to over 98,000 customers since the start of the storm; 49,000 remain without power as of 8AM; Crew Member Seriously Injured Saturday
February 26, 2023 (LOS ANGELES)–Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) crews worked all day Saturday and through a second night of challenging weather conditions to restore power to customers affected by rain and wind storm-related power outages. Over the past 24 hours, crews have restored power to 50,000 customers. Overall, since the start of the storm Friday, crews have restored power to more than 98,000 customers. There are currently 49,000 customers out of LADWP’s 1.5 million electric customers who are still without power.
The timeframe for crews to respond to an outage increased to 24-48 hours in the early morning hours on Saturday, up from the previous 12-24 hour response time, when it became clear that the continued wind and rain from the record storm would result in additional outages even as crews continued to restore power. Many of the incidents crews are working to repair involve high winds and heavy rains toppling trees and taking down power poles and power lines. These require tree clearing and removal, which takes time and slows outage restoration work. Crews have prioritized restoration work involving broken or downed power poles and power lines as those incidents pose a public hazard. Some of the outages are a result of flooding and water intrusion into underground electrical systems. When the affected equipment is underground, crews must go from vault to vault to identify the source of the damage before repairs can take place, which can also be time-consuming. “We want our customers who are without power to know that we are working as hard and safely as we can to get your power restored and we appreciate your patience,” said Brian Wilbur, Senior Assistant General Manager – Power System. “High winds and heavy rain like we experienced can cause significant damage, but our crews continue to make steady and strong progress and will work around the clock until everyone is back on.”
The remaining power outages continue to be spread across LADWP’s service area with some of the hardest hit communities being Glassell Park, Green Meadows, Hancock Park, Hollywood, and Studio City in the Metro area (South of Mulholland Drive), and Chatsworth, Mission Hills, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Tarzana, Van Nuys, and Woodland Hills in the Valley area.
Crews worked much of Saturday through bad weather, but with the break between storm systems forecast for today, we anticipate continued restoration in large numbers as the work progresses.
We regret to report that one of our crew members sustained an injury while working to restore power Saturday in the Valley. He was transported to a hospital and is in intensive care at this time. “This accident and serious injury of our employee is a reminder that our line crews and other field personnel are truly unsung heroes who work in hazardous conditions risking their lives to keep the power flowing across our City,” said LADWP General Manager Martin Adams. “The safety of our employees and customers is our highest priority, and we are praying that he makes a full recovery.”
We encourage all customers to sign up to receive LADWP’s community outage alerts in English or Spanish for up to three neighborhoods, via phone and/or email. Sign up at: ladwp.com/OutageAlert.
If you experience a power outage:
- Report it online at www.ladwp.com/outages or by calling 1-800-DIAL-DWP (1-800-342-5397)
- Use a flashlight instead of candles, as a light source.
- Switch off all lights, except for one, so you will know when your power has been restored.
- Once your power is restored, it may require you to reset your circuit breaker for the lights to come back on.
- Keep your refrigerator closed to keep food cold.
- Check on vulnerable friends and neighbors to make sure they are safe.
LADWP will continue to provide updates on outage restoration as crews make progress on our newspage at ladwpnews.com and via Twitter (@ladwp) and NextDoor.
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