Power in Echo Park restored following late-night blackout amid triple-digit heat wave

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power fully restored electricity to Echo Park residents early Thursday following a blackout that left homes and commercial stretches dark overnight.

Crews worked through the early morning hours to bring air conditioning and lights back online as Southern California experiences its third consecutive day of extreme, triple-digit heat.

What we know:

Around 800 customers lost power beginning at around 11 p.m., leaving local businesses along Echo Park Boulevard, gas stations, and residential streets entirely without power. 

LADWP crews worked overnight to repair the grid, successfully bringing power back online for affected residents and businesses by 2 a.m. 

The outage struck during a major regional heat event, with neighboring utility Southern California Edison also reporting dozens of weather-related outages across areas including Bell Gardens, Compton, and Paramount.

SoCal Edison crews similarly restored power to over 1,000 customers in Lynwood by 3:30 a.m. after an outage that began at 8 p.m. the previous evening.

What we don't know:

The exact underlying cause of the Echo Park outage remains under investigation by LADWP officials. 

It's unclear whether localized equipment failures were directly triggered by peak grid demand during the ongoing extreme heat wave.

What's next:

Excessive heat warnings remain active across Southern California through Friday afternoon as a strong atmospheric ridge hovers over the Southwest. 

The Los Angeles metro area is bracing for temperatures reaching up to 99 degrees by Friday, placing the region on track for potentially 13 consecutive days over 90 degrees—the longest such streak recorded in the city since 1995.