Utility shutoffs creep wider on Palos Verdes Peninsula. Dozens of Rolling Hills homes to go dark
Utility shutoffs have again expanded on the Palos Verdes Peninsula amid worsening landslide movement. After the loss of gas and electricity threw parts of Rancho Palos Verdes into turmoil, dozens of residents in the adjacent city of Rolling Hills are — for the first time — facing the loss of vital utilities.
The additional power shutoffs appear to confirm growing concerns that the land movement’s recent acceleration and expansion stem from a problem much larger than what officials have long identified as the slow-moving Portuguese Bend landslide complex.
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 about three dozen homes were expected to lose gas service Monday at 3 p.m. and 50 were slated to lose power by 6 p.m. Wednesday because of ongoing land movement that has prompted evacuation warnings and at least one fire in recent weeks. As of Monday afternoon, Southern California Gas officials said that 37 homes were expected to lose gas.
The announcement from Southern California Edison came as around 200 other homes in the area were already without power, some indefinitely.
Like many of the power shutoffs affecting the Portuguese Bend area in Rancho Palos Verdes, these latest cutoffs are for an indefinite period.
Rolling Hills 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.”
The city of Rolling Hills on Monday clarified that the local fire station and sheriff’s deputies would not be affected by the shutoffs, and that officials were working to expedite permits for residents who want to install alternative power, such as generators and solar panels. The city’s statement also said that the Rolling Hills Community Assn., a private homeowners group that includes the affected homes, hired a geologist who has installed land movement monitors.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
For months, neighborhoods in Rolling Hills have not been included in the ongoing mapping and geological reviews about the worsening land movement across Rancho Palos Verdes — including cracked foundations, destroyed roadways and transformed landscapes — though parts of the city border many areas that have recorded major ground shifts.
But in August, after Rancho Palos Verdes officials determined that the landslide forces affecting the region were much deeper and likely more widespread than previously thought, the city geologist’s team met with some Rolling Hills residents about new, nearby movement spotted there.
Mike Phipps, the city geologist, said last month that the new movement in Rolling Hills, along Cinchring and Quail Ridge roads, could be related to the larger landslide complex in Rancho Palos Verdes, but it would require additional monitoring to confirm that.
Gas company officials said the new shutoff in Rolling Hills follows a “recent geological hazard survey and an incident with the water system.”
California Water Service spokesperson Yvonne Kingman confirmed that Rolling Hills had a water main leak last week, which she said was the “fourth leak we’ve experienced due to land movement in Rolling Hills in recent months.” She said the first of those leaks occurred in late July.
However, she said crews were able to repair the break quickly, and that the utility has no plans to cut off its service.
“Based on the current circumstances, yes, we still plan to continue providing water service in the landslide areas, both for customers’ everyday needs and for fire protection,” Kingman said in a statement. “We also continue to address and repair any leaks that occur due to the land movement as quickly as possible.”
She said the utility’s multifaceted leak detection system has not been affected by the electrical shutoffs, and noted that many of its sensors operate on cellular service.
The shutoffs in Rolling Hills come 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 about 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood.
When electricity is cut Wednesday to the 50 homes in Rolling Hills, there will be a total of almost 300 in the area facing an indefinite power shutoff because of the land movement. Reggie Kumar, an SCE spokesperson, declined to definitely say whether more shutoffs were expected, but said cutting electricity is a last resort for the utility.
“We are still assessing the situation and looking for ways to provide power to these communities in a safe and reliable way,” Kumar said. “It’s a very fluid situation, it all depends on the conditions — electrical equipment needs stable ground.”
Some areas also have been grappling with cable and internet shutoffs and evacuation warnings— though many residents have decided to stay in their homes, using generators and other off-the-grid power providers.
After several days of power shutoffs in Rancho Palos Verdes Communities affected by accelerated land movement, Gov. Gavin Newsom declares a state of emergency
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.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
