Trona Power Outage October 22: Power Still Out at 2 p.m. After Earlier Estimates Passed

TRONA / SEARLES VALLEY, San Bernardino County — Thursday, October 22, 2026, morning update. Southern California Edison (SCE) sent an alert to a local customer reporting an unplanned power outage that began at 6:43 a.m. Pacific time in Trona. In the notification, reviewed by Searles Valley News, the utility said it was still identifying the cause and any repairs needed. No estimated restoration time was supplied in that message.

The notification establishes an outage affecting the recipient’s service location. It does not establish how many homes or businesses are without electricity, which other streets are affected, or whether the outage is continuing at the moment you read this article. For privacy, this report does not publish the customer’s specific street address or the original screenshot.

2:00 p.m. update, October 22: Power still out at a Searles Valley residence

TRONA / SEARLES VALLEY — Thursday, October 22, 2026, approximately 2:00 p.m. Pacific. A Searles Valley resident has reported directly to this newsroom that electricity had still not returned to their service location by approximately 2:00 p.m. The earlier customer-facing restoration estimates of 10:00 a.m. and then 12:00 p.m. (noon) have both passed without service being restored at that location. That is a first-hand, single-location status report, not confirmation that every household or business in Trona or Searles Valley remains without electricity.

As of this update, the newsroom has no newly verified utility-wide restoration time, outage customer count or confirmed cause. The outage was earlier identified in Southern California Edison (SCE) customer alerts as unplanned. Readers should check SCE’s official outage center for their own address. We will distinguish any later individual restoration report from a full-area restoration announcement. For downed or damaged power lines, stay clear and call 911 in an emergency.

Earlier update: Estimated restoration moved to 12:00 p.m. (noon), October 22

Thursday, October 22, 2026 — late-morning reader update: A Searles Valley resident reports receiving new utility outage notifications by text message and email indicating that the estimated time to restore electricity at the affected service location has been revised from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (noon) Pacific time on October 22. The reader described the sender as PG&E, but the earlier customer notifications for this Trona-area incident were issued by Southern California Edison (SCE), and PG&E’s own electric-provider directory lists SCE for Trona. The newsroom has not independently inspected the latest notice’s sender, timestamp or incident number. We therefore attribute the noon estimate to the resident’s report pending direct confirmation from SCE, rather than representing it as a separately verified utility bulletin.

Noon is an estimate, not a guarantee or proof that electricity has been restored. Earlier SCE alerts gave 10:00 a.m. as the estimated restoration time; those estimates are retained below for the reporting timeline but are superseded by this reported later estimate. Customers should verify the current status for their own address with SCE’s official outage center or at 1-800-611-1911. The full extent, cause and number of affected accounts have not been independently established. Private subscriber details are withheld.

UPDATE — SCE now estimates restoration by 10:00 a.m. October 22

Updated from a second SCE customer notification received at approximately 7:35 a.m. PDT: Southern California Edison says its crews are working to safely restore service for the previously reported Trona outage and now estimates restoration at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, October 22, 2026. The utility cautions that the estimate may change. This is not a confirmation that power has returned. The update concerns the specific service incident reported to the customer; the full affected area and customer count remain unverified. To protect the customer’s privacy, Searles Valley News is not publishing the exact address or a screenshot containing it. Check SCE’s official outage tracker for newer estimates.

October 22 customer alert: SCE estimates 10 a.m. restoration

A further SCE customer text notification supplied to Searles Valley News again lists 10:00 a.m. October 22 as the estimated restoration time for the reported Trona-area outage. Crews are working to restore service; the estimate may change. This is not confirmation of actual restoration. The recipient’s street address is not being published.

Earlier SCE update: Crews investigating an unexpected outage

Update, October 22, 2026 (time of this follow-up notice not independently established): A further Southern California Edison customer notice, provided to Searles Valley News, describes the incident as an unexpected power outage, not planned maintenance. SCE says its crews are investigating the cause and working to restore service safely. It warns that some customers may regain electricity before others as repairs proceed. The notice promises a further update but does not give a new restoration deadline or identify the cause.

An earlier customer message estimated restoration at 10 a.m.; that estimate was preliminary and should not be interpreted as confirmation that power was restored. The precise number of affected customers, outage boundaries and current restoration status have not been independently confirmed. Residents can check SCE’s official outage status for their own service address.

Safety: Never approach or touch a downed power line. Call SCE at 1-800-611-1911 or 911 in an emergency. Use battery-powered lights rather than candles, and treat nonfunctioning traffic signals as four-way stops.

Source transparency: This update is based on the text of a customer notification shared with the newsroom. The utility notice did not provide a public incident-specific URL or a verifiable dispatch timestamp; the newsroom has not independently confirmed the precise location beyond the previously reported Trona-area incident.

Nearby newspapers following the Trona incident

This outage is documented by Searles Valley News. Our regional updates appear in neighboring California58 editions: Ridgecrest News; Inyokern News; Ballarat News; Johannesburg News; Red Mountain News; Randsburg News; Darwin News; Death Valley News; Olancha News. Regional coverage does not mean that an outage occurred in every named town. All service status and restoration estimates require location-specific verification.

New road and storm hazards nearby on October 22

Separate weather update: National Weather Service Hanford issued a new 12:41 p.m. Flood Advisory covering Inyokern, China Lake, Walker Pass and parts of northeastern Kern County until 3:45 p.m., with possible water over Highways 14, 178 and 395. Read the Inyokern News road and flooding report. The separate Ridgecrest News Kern County Flood Watch is in effect through the evening. The NWS notices do not prove any of those highways is closed or that storms caused the Trona electricity outage; use Caltrans QuickMap for confirmed restrictions.

Heavy rain and a flood advisory in the same area

The outage notification arrived during a period of unsettled weather across the desert. At 4:34 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas continued a Flood Advisory for parts of Inyo and San Bernardino counties, explicitly including Trona and Searles Valley among the locations at risk. The advisory was scheduled to expire at 6:45 a.m. Thursday.

Forecasters cited radar-indicated heavy rain from thunderstorms and warned that minor flooding could occur in low-lying areas, poorly drained locations and low-water crossings. That forecast is relevant background, not proof that rain or flooding caused this electrical outage. SCE had not identified the cause in the customer alert.

Official weather source: National Weather Service Flood Advisory, October 22, 2026. Advisories may expire, be renewed or replaced; consult NWS Las Vegas for newer information.

Which Searles Valley communities have confirmed problems?

Trona: A customer received an SCE notification confirming an unplanned power outage at the service location beginning at 6:43 a.m. October 22. This confirms an affected account, not a valley-wide shutdown. Separately, Verizon’s official California outage map has listed wireless-service disruptions associated with Trona ZIP codes 93562 and 93592, with a discovered time of October 16 at 1:54 p.m. and a displayed update as late as October 22 at 12:39 a.m. The carrier says nearby locations may also experience degraded service. A wireless outage entry does not prove complete loss of Verizon service at every address in the ZIP code.

Pioneer Point and Argus: Both are neighboring communities within the Searles Valley area. At the time of this report, Searles Valley News has not independently confirmed separate SCE outage incidents or customer totals for either community. The verified Trona outage cannot be automatically extended to both places. Verizon’s warning about neighboring communities also does not identify which addresses are affected.

South Trona, Borosolv and Westend: No town-by-town SCE outage count or restoration time has been independently verified for these areas. Residents should check their specific service location through the utility rather than relying on a regional headline.

Ridgecrest, Inyokern and other nearby communities: This report has no reliable, time-stamped evidence of an outage linked to the Trona incident. Weather alerts and road flooding are not proof of electricity or telecom outages.

Why might internet access slow down?

A local resident has reported trouble using fixed-line internet and slower Verizon cellular data during the morning power interruption. Possible contributing factors include loss of power to networking equipment, failures in a provider’s distribution equipment, existing wireless service disruption and increased demand from customers using mobile hotspots. The precise cause has not been determined. Because Verizon’s public map already listed a Trona-area wireless incident dating to October 16, a claim that the October 22 electric outage alone caused all cellular slowdowns would be unsupported.

In this valley, the resident says Verizon has been the practically usable cellular carrier at their location, while T-Mobile and Metro have not provided usable coverage there. That is local testimony, not a carrier-certified survey of every parcel. Metro operates on T-Mobile’s network.

To check coverage or report problems, use Verizon’s California disruption map and SCE’s outage status tool. SCE warns that reports can take up to 30 minutes to appear on the public map. We will update the specific communities and restoration timeline once independently confirmed.

What is the status of the outage now?

SCE’s live outage center is the official place to check for restoration estimates, updated causes and affected-customer information when available. The utility cautions that outages may take time to appear on its map. Residents should check the SCE outage status tool or use their own SCE alerts. Searles Valley News has not independently verified a restoration estimate, affected-customer count or completion of repair work for this incident.

Internet access and Verizon mobile data: a second problem for the valley

Local connectivity report, October 22: A Searles Valley resident reported that their fixed-line home internet connection became unavailable during the power outage, leaving mobile data as the practical fallback. The resident also reported noticeably slower service on Verizon as more people relied on phones. Those are on-the-ground observations, not network measurements or a provider-confirmed diagnosis.

The resident identifies Trona, Argus and Pioneer Point as communities where Verizon is the only mobile network they can use reliably, saying T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile do not provide usable service in their experience. This is a reported local experience; the newsroom has not established that every address in the valley has identical carrier coverage. Metro by T-Mobile confirms it operates on the T-Mobile network, so Metro is not a separate network-infrastructure fallback where T-Mobile coverage is unusable. San Bernardino County’s own community plan groups Trona, Searles Valley, Argus and Pioneer Point together as the Trona Communities. Source: San Bernardino County Community Action Guide.

Why can a power outage also slow internet access?

There are several possible mechanisms, and more than one can happen at once. A home’s internet modem, optical network terminal or Wi-Fi router may lose power even if the external fiber cable itself is undamaged. A service provider’s local networking equipment may also rely on mains power or backup batteries. Finally, if many households switch from home broadband to the same available cellular network, increased demand may reduce available speeds. None of those explanations has been verified as the specific cause of today’s fixed-internet interruption or Verizon slowdown.

In general safety guidance, SCE warns that customers may lose phone service during power outages and suggests a phone hotspot, charged devices and alternative Wi-Fi access as possible contingencies. These steps depend on an existing usable mobile connection and available electricity. See SCE outage and staying-online advice.

What does Verizon’s own outage information show?

Verizon’s public California outage map has separately listed wireless-service disruption entries for Trona ZIP codes 93562 and 93592, with an initial discovery date shown as October 16, 2026 in indexed data. That predates the SCE outage reported on October 22. The map describes possible reduced or disrupted coverage around affected sites, not a verified loss of service at every home. Its availability and timestamps can change; the newsroom cannot independently confirm from the public map that those entries explain today’s reported slowdown, or that they remain active at every location.

How residents can communicate while coverage is slow

Use short text messages instead of video calls or large uploads when mobile data is congested; messages may still be delayed.
Keep a phone and portable battery charged when possible, and conserve battery power.
Save important contacts and offline directions ahead of future storms; phone navigation may not load without service.
If using home broadband with backup power, check that both the router and any fiber/optical terminal have power; this will not resolve an upstream provider outage.
For an immediate emergency, try 911. Do not assume cellular access or 911 connectivity is guaranteed in an area with no network coverage.
Report a fixed-internet outage to the actual internet service provider and cellular performance problems to Verizon, noting the approximate time and community without posting private account details publicly.

What remains unconfirmed: the identity of the fixed-internet provider affected, whether the fiber backbone is damaged, the condition of individual cell towers or backup power systems, total Verizon subscriber demand, and whether today’s electrical outage caused any telecom failure.

Safety during an outage and a desert storm

Stay away from fallen wires: treat any downed power line as energized, and do not approach standing water touching electrical equipment.
Keep phones charged when power is available; use flashlights rather than candles where possible.
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed to preserve food safely during short interruptions. If power remains out for an extended period, follow official food-safety advice.
Do not run portable generators indoors or near windows or doors. Carbon monoxide can be deadly.
Do not drive across a flooded roadway or desert wash. Check Caltrans QuickMap and relevant county or park road agencies before traveling.
Anyone who relies on electrically powered medical equipment should use their emergency plan and seek appropriate assistance if their safety is at risk.

SCE’s repair-outage guidance lists severe weather among possible causes of outages generally, but the cause of this particular event remains unknown.

Earlier rain coverage from Searles Valley News

For the regional weather context, see our earlier report: Heavy Rain Hits Searles Valley as Flood Warnings and Road Closures Affect Nearby Desert Areas. That report covers flood warnings and road issues in the wider region. Conditions differ by location, and past road closures should not be mistaken for current restrictions.

Reporting and corrections note: The start time and SCE’s initial description come from a utility customer text alert provided to Searles Valley News. The NWS advisory is an independently accessible official weather product. This report does not make an unverified claim about the outage’s geographic extent, duration, cause or repair timeline. No subscriber address is disclosed.

Support Searles Valley News: Independent local reporting keeps Trona and Searles Valley residents informed about utilities, roads and safety. Support our local newspaper network.

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