SAN DIEGO — Update:
As of 7 p.m. Friday, all housing units and clinics had full power through generators with working toilets, according to officials with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Electronic tablets supplied to incarcerated people to communicate with family and friends also have power again.
CDCR officials said electrical crews will work throughout the night to continue to bring full power to additional areas.
Original story:
This article was updated to include a comment from SDG&E.
Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility is being powered by large-scale generators after an outage revealed major damage involving the prison’s transformers that supply power, officials confirmed.
According to officials at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the prison lost power at around 8:35 a.m. on Nov. 15 Since the outage, prison officials said they have brought in generators and portable toilets.
CBS 8 has received multiple reports from family members of the prison population who said they are concerned about deteriorating conditions inside the facility.
“The health and safety of all who live and work within our institutions and in our communities is our top priority. The outage does not jeopardize security at RJD, and health and impacts are being addressed in a timely manner,” RJD officials said in a statement to CBS 8.
According to RJD officials, SDG&E determined that the prison’s main transformers that provide power to majority of the facility were damaged. RJD officials said the prison’s high voltage contractor will evaluate the damage. Officials have not provided an estimated time of restoration.
RJD told CBS 8 that extra staff has been asked to work to accommodate needs during the interim. Normal food operations have been paused and cold meals are being served.
According to RJD officials, leadership from California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have been keeping the prison population updated.
CBS 8 reached out to SDG&E for a statement and told CBS 8:
"We are actively investigating the cause of the outage and working in close collaboration with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to restore power at the Donovan Correctional Facility as quickly as possible. SDG&E’s electric system is energized up to the electric system of the correctional facility, but before power can be restored, customer-owned electrical equipment must first be repaired. Our crews were onsite [on November 16) and are onsite again today. We stand ready with personnel and parts to rewire our equipment once the facility’s equipment is repaired."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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