County Supervisor Endorses Malibu Blackout Plans
Written by 991KBU on September 24, 2018
L-A County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl says turning off the electricity in high winds … is a good public policy.
The supervisor says it may be difficult for Malibu residents … but shutting off electricity in Santa Anas will protect against fires.
Kuehl tells KBUU news she acknowledges that blacking out traffic lights … water pumps … electric gates and schools will be a dangerous impact.
The impact of a disastrous fire … she says … would be worse.
NEWSCART 77830 KUEHL EDISON AAA :48 QQQ: BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE A DANGER..
“The impacts are in conflict … in a way.
“My constituents … our residents … they would like to be safe from fire.
“They want to make certain that Southern California Edison is doing everything they can about their power lines so that we are not going to be in danger from fire.
“In high wind situations, we have to worry about it and maybe we need to shutdown until the wind dies down.
“And so residents are saying ‘oh, no, I can’t be without electricity, but i don’t want a fire.’
“So what we’ve done is engage every county department that relates in any way, whether its the fire department, public works, trying to see what we can work through.
“Because we can’t say, ‘you can never shut down,’ because it might be a danger.
REPORTER: “Did Edison do a good job coordinating and planning this, in you opinion?”
KUEHL: “I don’t think their outreach was as good as it could have been. at first.
“I think constituents were very confused about what it might mean, and it’s the same not just in this area, but all along where Edison wants to shutdown occasionally.
“I think now that residents are aware, they really don’t know what to do about it.
“So they should simply let Edison know their very concerned.
“Edison has its public relations people you know working on it.”
REPORTER: “Edison is telling people they should go out and buy generators. T
“I mean, they are actually telling us that on tape.
You’re going to have hundreds of generators cranking up in Los Angeles County, does that worry you?”
KUEHL: “It does worry me, because many of them are powered by gasoline, and that ….
“But, often you have conflicting public policy issues.
“All I can tell you i that all of our departments are trying to work togetehr, so that the shutdowns are minimal and only where extremely necessary.”
That’s L A County supervisors Sheila Kuehl … endorsing the Southern California Edison blackout plan.
The county supervisor was the author of AB 32 in the California legislature.
That’s the landmark greenhouse gas reduction bill …a key part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s green California and global warming initiatives.
The governor has said protecting Southern California Edison … and other investor owned utilities … is important.
If Edison causes another big fire … the company could go bankrupt.
That would cause rates to go up … and would endanger the agreements made by Southern California Edison to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under AB 32.
——
California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday signed 28 different bills related to wildfires … and every single one of them will affect Malibu in one way or another.
The biggest impact will be financial … it would let Southern California Edison pass on to its ratepayers some of the costs … for the 2 billion dollar Thomas Fire disaster … if Edison is found to be responsible for it.
The new laws also would require Southern California Edison to harden its power lines … so it’s less likely to cause fires.
Edison is already before the state asking to raise its rates to do exactly that .. and remember … the power company makes a guaranteed profit of around 10 percent for every dollar it collects in rates.
One part of the new laws with major impacts for Southern California is a government fund for brush clearance.
Some fire breaks in the Malibu area … on ridgetops … were built 50 years ago and haven’t been cleared in decades.
Whether Malibu and the county government scramble to take advantage of the state funding for brush clearance and mitigation is very much an open question.
It has not even been mentioned as a priority.
