At about 8:00 pm (8/14/2020) the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declared a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency due to the high heat and increased electricity demand. A Stage 3 emergency initiates rotating outages throughout the state. Parts of Wrightwood lost power starting about 7:40 pm (based on posts on Facebook) and retuned at about 8:00 pm though, at this time, it is unclear if this was a result of a rotating outage.
Southern California Edison did announce, at about 7:45 pm they would begin Rotating Outages across Southern California also known as a “Rolling Blackout.” According to their website, a Rotating Outage is an extremely rare, controlled power outage that SCE can enact as a last resort when there is a statewide emergency, such as the one issued by CAISO this evening. Rolling blackouts typically last about an hour and power is shut down by geographical groups called “Rotating Outage Groups” and is meant to ease the demand on the electrical grid thus preventing larger and longer power outages.