Despite heat, Edison plans power outage Saturday

DOWNEY − Due to scheduled maintenance, Southern California Edison will shut off power to Downey customers on Lakewood Boulevard just north of Imperial Highway this Saturday.

However, the planned power outage has at least one resident up in arms.

Downey resident Connie Kajitani Pulver lives in the Rancho La Paz apartments at 12450 Lakewood Blvd. In an e-mail to Mayor Luis Marquez, Pulver says SoCal Edison placed a letter on her door informing her of the maintenance outage, which is scheduled for this Saturday from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. 

"It's understandable with the Promenade being built that SCE needs to upgrade the infrastructure of the area," she said. "Although with the heat wave we are experiencing this is not the appropriate time."

A representative from SoCal Edison said on Thursday that many planned maintenance outages have been cancelled since the start of the increased temperatures barring a serious liability or safety concern.

No other details were available for how wide reaching the outage would be, but Pulver is hoping the outage can be rescheduled to a cooler weekend.

"This Saturday, the temperature will be 90 degrees with humidity at 50% outdoors," she said. "With the elderly, children and pets, this can be harmful health wise and quite unbearable for everyone."