By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
With all the speculation on Facebook about why the power went out on the mountain at 3:47 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9 – and the grumbling about it – I reached out to Southern California Edison for some answers.
Yes, we had all been getting the alerts about a possible PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff). And, no, we did not get any notice that such a PSPS had taken place.
We did not get such a notice because, except for one small area in Running Springs, this was not a PSPS. The outage was caused by wind damage to SCE equipment. An SCE representative at the Hootman Center – where they were distributing firewood, blankets, snacks and water – told me the fault was with the transmission line that comes up the mountain from Silverwood. Some areas that line goes through are very rugged and inaccessible and require inspection and repair by helicopter.
On Friday, Jan. 10, I spoke with Jeff Monford, the senior advisor in Corporate Communications for Edison International. He shared some numbers:
• In six counties in Southern California there are 278,143 customers without power.
• Of those, 149,052 are under a PSPS.
• The other 129,091 are due to other causes, including wind damage. “That is the case where you are,” Monford said. “You are not currently under a PSPS. We are repairing equipment.”
In addition, Monford said, SCE estimates 1.29 million customers have seen an impact since the outbreak of the fires on Jan. 7. As of Thursday, Jan. 9, 968,000 customers have had their power restored.
“SCE has thousands of field crew members working tirelessly to restore power during this brief break in the winds,” Monfordsaid on Friday morning. In addition, they have brought in crews from other utilities in the state through their mutual assistance agreements to help with restorations and repairs.
However, Monford added, “With dangerous winds and multiple large fires continuing, customers may be without power for several days. More than anyone, we understand that electricity is essential, how much people depend on it and that going without it is a hardship.
“Please know that we will restore power where there are outages as soon as possible.”
Monford added that SCE cannot say when they will be restoring power to any particular customer or area. “Our crews are working to restore power as quickly as they can do so safely.”
He hastened to remind SCE customers that after every power restoration – whether from a PSPS or a repair – SCE crews must inspect the lines to make sure there is no debris or damage to them before they can be reenergized.
“Inspections will take some time with the scope of this event,” Monford said.
“At SCE, our top concern is the safety of our customers, crew members and communities,” he noted.
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