News, Ocean Park

Majority of Power Restored in Santa Monica Neighborhood

Posted Jan. 6, 2011, 11:28 am

Mirror Staff

Updated Jan. 1 at 8:35 p.m. Scott Andresen, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison just confirmed that of the 4,071 customer originally without power, only 1,209 are still in the dark. He said that the number could have reduced by the time he spoke with the Mirror as a team of responders are on scene isolating the problem.

Andresen said that one power line fell into another, causing the black out. What caused the first line to fall is still unknown and "will be the last thing we know," he said. He said that a blown transformer could possibly been the cause.

Whatever the cause, more than 4,000 customers were without power nearly two hours in an area bounded Pico Boulevard on the north, Fourth Street on the east, Navy Street on the south, and Bernard on the west.

Andresen said he expects to problem to be fixed soon.

"Those guys are the best at what they do," he said of the Edison respond team. "They work quickly and efficiently to fix problems."

Updated Jan. 1 at 8:15 p.m. Residents are reporting power restored to all but a few minor areas...

Posted Jan. 1 at 7:28 p.m. Residents in and around Ocean Park in Santa Monica lost power this evening around 6:30 p.m. from what appears to be a blown transformer at Second Street and Marine Street.

How many residents are without power and the expected duration of the outage are unknown at this time. Scott Andresen, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, said that although they suspect it is a blown transformer, that is merely a preliminary assumption. Edison has a first responder already on scene who is "trouble shooting the situation," and expected to report a more definitive cause for the outage sometime later this evening. Officially, at this time, the cause is still undetermined.

Sgt. Jay Trisler of the Santa Monica Police department said that no injuries had been reported, to his knowledge, as a result of the power outage.

Residents in the area reported smoke, although no fires have been reported to Trisler's knowledge. Officers were managing traffic at the Main Street and Pico Boulevard intersection.