Rancho Palos Verdes neighbors whose natural gas service was cut off Monday morning said they are livid.
“I don’t know if I can say the word other than pissed,” Claudia Gutierrez, a member of the Portuguese Bend Community Association, said. “I’m not scared. Angry, frustrated. Now we’re scrambling to get information.”
So are people from 135 houses who are now forced to imagine life without gas at least at their current homes.
“The idea of moving is absolutely overwhelming. We raised our two daughters here,” Leanne Twidwell, who lived in the Portuguese Bend region for more than five decades with her husband. “I’m 88 years old, and so is my husband. He has Parkinson’s. He can barely walk.”
After SoCal gas cut the service at 9 a.m. Monday as it determined the worsening land movement would not allow the utility to safely provide natural gas in the area, it’s now offering $2,500 vouchers to those affected by the decision.
“It’s a matter of getting a generator, battery back ups, induction, cooking. I’m doing all that,” Corinne Gerrard, a neighbor, said.
While some said they are looking at an electric water heater since they don’t have hot water anymore, others wondered if $2,500 will be enough to cover the expenses to replace gas-powered appliances.
“More than $2,500 – that should just be phase one because if anything that would just get you an electric water heater and maybe an electrician to put it in,” Guiterrez said. “What about people’s stoves that are gas?”
The utility said more than 600 feet of pipeline has been relocated due to the movement.
SoCalGas has not said how long gas will be shut off. Officially from the company were expected to remain in the affected area until Tuesday to give out the vouchers.
