Edison to cut power on Merlin circuit as Santa Anas build Play

Southern California Edison has notified the city of Malibu that it will likely shut off power on what it calls the Merlin circuit by about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The Merlin circuit serves the area from the beach about two to four miles inland, from Latigo Canyon east to Malibu Canyon, including upper Malibu Canyon Road. It does not include the Pepperdine campus, which is on a different circuit.

Other circuits across Malibu could also be cut at some point Wednesday as the Santa Anas build.

All of the western Santa Monica Mountains are in a warning area where Edison has served notice that power may be shut off. Under state law, the utility has the authority to cut power preemptively if it believes its equipment is in danger of sparking a fire.

This will be the first Public Safety Power Shutoff — PSPS — of the season, and similar windstorms crop up about eight times in an average year.

Early Wednesday morning, Edison woke many Malibu residents with a 2 a.m. alarm repeating the preemptive shutoff warning they had already received the night before.

Edison has done this in past years and had promised the state it would not to do it again, but did it anyway.

It points to growing blackout warning fatigue — people are literally getting tired of this.