Power was restored to all of the housing units at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility on Friday night, after a power outage left inmates without running water, working toilets, heat or the ability to heat up food for three days.
Air conditioning, lighting and toilets should have been functioning as normal since 6:40 p.m., according to Donavon Prison spokesperson Lt. Adam Garvey.
Non-priority areas throughout the institution, mostly staff-only areas, are still impacted by the outage but should be resolved on Saturday, Garvey said.
“The health, safety and security of RJD’s population and staff is our top priority. RJD has supplemented its large-scale generators with additional generators from SDG&E in order to provide power to all areas of the institution. The majority of the institution has running water. Electrical crews continue to work around the clock to restore power. The outage does not jeopardize security at RJD, and the needs of our population are being addressed in a timely manner," CDCR spokesperson Terri Hardy said.
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NBC 7 first learned about the outage Thursday evening from tipsters who described the conditions at the facility, such as the lack of heat and running water. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed the outage started Wednesday morning but did not specify its impacts on jail operations.
"The outage does not jeopardize security at RJD, and health and impacts are being addressed in a timely manner," the CDCR's statement read in part.
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San Diego Gas & Electric told the jail transformers supplying power to the facility had been damaged, the CDCR said. The CDCR did not say when power was expected to be restored.
Generators and portable toilets were brought to the jail, and staffing was increased, the CDCR said. Cold meals were served during the outage, according to the CDCR.
SDG&E said it would not confirm outage details due to concerns over security and privacy.
Lisa Johnson's husband is an inmate at the facility.
"I was first made aware of that [the power outage] by other women who had heard from their loved ones. I had not heard from mine, so then we started doing research, and digging and reached out to Sacramento and to many members here, and I finally received a call yesterday from my loved one and he said it’s horrible in there," Johnson said.
"I know a lot of people don’t know anyone in the prison system but just know this it takes one second – an accident, anything, and you can be behind bars or a loved one," Johnson added.
Mary Estrada is another woman married to an inmate at the facility who was concerned for those inside the facility with special medical needs.
"They have CPAP machines. They have dialysis. People that have heart monitors, how is that going to function without electricity?" Estrada asked.
Due to the power outage, in-person visits for facilities A, B, C and D were closed this weekend (Nov. 17-19), according to the facility's website. Facility E will be open to in-person visiting on Saturday, Nov.18, 2023.
An inmate at the facility called NBC 7 and said the power was still out as of 6 p.m. on Friday. They shared that the only light in the facility was emergency lighting and any light from outside.
The inmate told NBC 7 that toilets were not flushing and they were not being let out to use the porta-potties.
Garvey said the toilets stopped working because the switches that operate the flush mechanism are powered. He said the urinals in the day room were still functioning and there was a port-a-potty brought in to the shared areas for communal use.
SDG&E released a statement regarding the outage on Friday evening:
"SDG&E is working in close collaboration with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to restore power at the Donovan Correctional Facility as quickly as possible. Our crews have been onsite to coordinate repairs with Donovan staff, since the outage started on Wednesday."
