Power shutoffs have expanded on the Palos Verdes Peninsula amid worsening land movement. After the loss of gas and electricity has thrown parts of Rancho Palos Verdes into turmoil, dozens of residents in the adjacent city of Rolling Hills are facing the loss of power.
Affected Rolling Hills residents are set to have their gas shut off Monday afternoon. The electricity shutoff will follow in about 48 hours.
Late last week, Rolling Hills officials — citing communications from utility companies — announced that 51 homes were slated to lose power by 6 p.m. Wednesday, and nearly three dozen were expected to lose gas service Monday at 3 p.m. because of ongoing land movement that has prompted evacuation warnings and at least one fire in recent weeks.
Like many of the power shutoffs affecting the Portuguese Bend area in Rancho Palos Verdes, these latest cutoffs are for an indefinite period.
The city said in last week’s statement that it had asked both Southern California Gas Co. and Southern California Edison to “look aggressively at engineering solutions” to provide service again as soon as possible. Rolling Hills Mayor Leah Mirsch reiterated that Sunday night in a statement to The Times.
“The safety and well-being of our residents remains the City’s top priority,” Mirsch wrote. “We are all impacted by the outages and are committed to holding the utility companies accountable — pushing them to implement solutions that will restore services both quickly and safely.”
Rolling Hills officials warned that the affected homes’ power could be shut off at any time between now and Wednesday evening. The city encouraged residents to contact utility companies directly for more detailed information through the Southern California Gas and SCE websites.
The news comes days after SCE shut off power to several dozen homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club and western Seaview neighborhoods of Rancho Palos Verdes. Power and gas were previously cut off to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood.
“The land movement there has created such a dangerous situation that we must make that difficult decision to disconnect power indefinitely,” David Eisenhauer, an SCE spokesperson, said at the time. “We have an obligation that’s higher than providing electric service, and that obligation is safety: safety of the community and safety of our teams.”
Some areas have been grappling with gas, cable and internet shutoffs and evacuation warnings as well — though some residents have decided to stay in their homes.
Local officials have worried that the loss of electricity could create additional safety concerns because sewer systems and the pumps needed to expel the groundwater that can cause land movement both require power to operate.
Previously, officials have said power shutoffs on the shifting peninsula are intended to reduce the risk of wildfires caused by electrified wires. Last month, a power line fell and sparked near dry vegetation, igniting a small fire in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood.
On Sept. 3, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the city of Ranchos Palos Verdes. In his declaration, Newsom said land in the area had been shifting as much as a foot a week, and that land movement had significantly accelerated after the severe storms of 2023 and 2024.
