Power shutoffs hit California as high winds risk new fires

Tens of thousands of customers were impacted by power shutoffs that could ultimately affect more than 1 million people in Southern California as high winds raised the risk of live wires sparking wildfires.

Edison International’s Southern California Edison cut electricity Wednesday to 14,776 homes and businesses across six counties as of 11:20 p.m. local time, with the majority in Kern County and Ventura Country, 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.