Power cuts begin in California as high winds risk new fires

Power shutoffs that could ultimately affect more than 1 million people in Southern California began Wednesday morning as high winds raised the risk of live wires sparking wildfires.

Edison International’s Southern California Edison cut electricity to 9,313 homes and businesses as of 6:49 p.m. local time, mainly in Ventura County and also in Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside counties, according to its website. The utility has warned it could shut power to a total of more than 272,000 customer accounts in eight counties, or about 816,000 people based on the size of the average household. That would constitute the region’s largest public-safety blackout this year.