Edison power cuts may disrupt Desert Daze, featuring Wu-Tang Clan and Devo
This weekend’s popular Desert Daze festival could be among the many areas affected by potential power cuts announced by SoCal Edison.
The festival site, at the Lake Perris State Recreational Area, lies on land spread over nine SoCal counties that could see power shutoffs this weekend due to intense Santa Ana winds. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for parts of Southern California through Friday.
Millions of Californians could spend days without power as the state’s largest utility continues shutting off electricity in a desperate attempt to avoid wildfires sparked by windblown power lines.
Representatives for the festival, when reached for comment as to any plans in place regarding power and high winds, said in a statement that “Desert Daze is run on generators so potential power outages to the area will not effect the show. The only potential area that may be affected by outages would be in the campgrounds, as the power there is run on the park’s electric grid and not generators. This would require flashlights for bathrooms, use of your onboard generators, replacing power hookups for RVs. The water supply would not be affected since it’s a gravity based system.”
“In short, Desert Daze is here and will not be affected by any potential power outages.”
Tawny Cabral, public safety information specialist for the Riverside County Fire Department, said that the festival promoter and the state parks department would already be required to have an emergency plan for any fires or loss of power, and that “we would respond per our standard response plan if any 9-1-1 calls are generated for emergencies.”
The festival, which this year features headliners Wu-Tang Clan, Flaming Lips and Devo, has seen disruptions from natural disasters before. Last year’s festival at the same site was briefly halted by lightning storms on opening night. Fans were advised to exit the grounds and seek shelter in cars.
Updates
4:19 p.m. Oct. 10, 2019: This story was updated with a statement from the Desert Daze festival.
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