Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) may leave some of the Santa Clarita Valley without power during Thanksgiving again during high winds and increased fire risk.

Southern California Edison, (SCE) has announced increased fire risk may lead to PSPS events between 12 p.m. Wednesday and 12 p.m. Friday in parts of Santa Clarita, potentially leaving some without power on Thanksgiving for the second year in a row.

“This is the time of year to gather and celebrate the holiday with friends and families,” said SCE spokesperson Reggie Kumar. “We understand that Public Safety Power Shutoff events significantly impact our customer’s daily lives and create hardships for them and our communities, especially during the Thanksgiving holiday. We may have to do this to keep communities safe from potential wildfires.”

Last year, PSPS led to power outages over much of Thanksgiving weekend for several areas in the eastern part of Santa Clarita, including parts of Canyon Country, Acton and Agua Dulce.

See Related: SoCal Edison Considering Public Safety Power Shut-Offs On Thanksgiving Day Due To Fire Danger

“Southern California Edison has activated an Incident Management Team to closely monitor the weather and ground conditions and may consider Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) for customers located in fire prone areas, if the conditions warrant,” Kumar said.

Because the wind event is expected to last for an extended amount of time, SCE has said they will attempt to temporarily restore power to customers if wind speeds slow enough to allow for it.

The power company has also said they have been hardening their grid to reduce the need for PSPS events.

“There is expedited grid hardening work taking place on 72 frequently impacted circuits that will result in an estimated reduction of PSPS outage time of at least 70 percent, assuming the same weather and fuel conditions as last year,” Kumar said. “In fact, for this 2021 fire season, 81,000 customers have already been removed from PSPS consideration, but this can change year-to-year.”

The announcement comes after a Red Flag Warning was announced by the National Weather Service.

The warning is set to be in effect from 10 a.m. Wednesday through 6 p.m. Friday.

During that time, gusty northeast winds and low relative humidity is expected.

Gusts could reach speeds of 55 miles per hour in foothill areas between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

“It has been a month since the last time we had a significant rainstorm in southern California, ground conditions are once again dry and receptive to potential wildfires – especially in areas that received little to no rain last month,” Kumar said.

The dry and windy conditions could lead to rapid fire spread.

“We strongly encourage our customers to have an outage plan in place,” Kumar said. “Make sure to have a working flashlight with batteries, charge cell phones and electric vehicles ahead of time.”

A five-day weather forecast for PSPS events can be found here. More information on PSPS events can be found on the SCE website.

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