Riverside County releases plan for future Desert Area power outage emergencies
Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez released the county's plan for any future power outage emergency in the Coachella Valley.
This comes amid concerns from the community about massive storm-related power outages that could leave residents without power for days. Over the past years, strong winds have knocked down dozens of power poles in the eastern Coachella Valley. There were two major instances within the past year.
In February 2021, the storm cell brought down 14 power poles in the Bombay Beach area, leaving hundreds of customers in the east valley without electricity for nearly 2 days.
A few months later, in late August a major storm brought down 33 power poles in North Shore. Power was restored after a couple of days.
The concerns have increased as the weather starts to reach triple digits around the Coachella Valley.
The Riverside County Desert Area Power Outage Concept of Operations plan is a 19-page document detailing how the county, in collaboration with IID and local, state, and federal partner agencies, will prepare for, respond to, and recover from unplanned power outages that turn into prolonged emergencies.
According to Perez's office, the plan was developed by the Riverside County Emergency Management Department, and has been reviewed and approved by IID.
The plan incorporates experience learned from the two major power outages in North Shore in 2021. It also includes more ideas for improving emergency response that was presented at a meeting with the North Shore community last fall.
“While Riverside County does not have jurisdiction over the electric system, when the power is out for an extended time, it can quickly develop into an emergency situation especially during extreme summer temperatures,” Perez said. “Our county is here to help whenever there is an emergency. Our past experiences have taught us how to quickly mobilize, coordinate with agencies, and deploy resources and services such as food, shelter, transportation. I want to let the community of North Shore to know that the county is organized and prepared to step in and help our communities deal with power outage emergencies.”
Perez's office added that the Supervisor plans to organize a community meeting in May to go over the plan with community members and partner agencies.
Following the September storm in North Shore, IID installed new poles in North Shore and has submitted grant applications for funding to increase the resiliency of its electric infrastructure that delivers power to the Salton Sea area communities. Supervisor Perez has been supporting IID’s efforts to seek grant funding to further upgrade its infrastructure.
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