SCE Gets Rare Triple Fail Award For Santa Ana Fiasco
Written by 991KBU on October 16, 2018
And now this news analysis…
Power went out for much of the day in most parts of Malibu yesterday … as Southern California Edison struggled with a power system that just frankly fell apart in an ordinary, not-very-special Santa Ana windstorm
Transmission lines in Malibu Canyon failed.
Distribution lines in Zuma Canyon failed.
One resident tells us … she has lived in Malibu for over 20 years and there has never been this widespread of a power outage due to this type of Santa Ana.
The usually-sharp Edison line crews … they complained to any willing ear that they were being hamstrung by new regulations that prevented them from getting the power back up quickly.
It must be emphasized that yesterday’s windstorm was -not- the severe fire weather that Edison has the state convinced is about to rake over Southern California.
It was a routine fall wind event … we have 14 Santa Ana wind storm days like that every fall … according to historical records.
The winds were not -THAT- strong.
Fifty mile per hour winds should not bring down power lines … period.
And of course … the problem is not just Malibu.
70 thousand Edison accounts lost electricity during the height of the winds …. across Southern California … maybe more … lots more.
Edison doesn’t have an exact count.
From Santa Barbara to San Bernardino … lines fell in winds that were far below the magic secret speed … where Edison will pro-actively cut the power to prevent conflagration.
As for western Malibu … this was the second power outage in 10 days.
We never did get an explanation for what went wrong a week ago Friday … there were no winds that day… only a description of a vague “equipment failure.”
Where does this leave us??
Edison’s PS PS program … their preemptive power blackout plan … it is in tatters.
The company assured Southern California as late as Sunday that no blackouts were planned.
But then the company suddenly issued warning to northern LA and Ventura counties …. a huge swath of cities from Ventura to Santa Clarita to Pasadena to San Bernardino.
Suddenly … with no advance notice … intentional blackouts were possible.
But Edison told Malibu City Hall on Sunday … that we would not get intentional blackouts here on Monday.
But early Monday morning … an Edison official told Malibu to stand by for intentional blackouts … possible at any minute … on to circuits in western Malibu.
A Couple hours later … that decision was reversed halfway …only one circuit was added to the list.
Then Edison told Malibu City Hall it was putting out bad information … despite what Edison had just told the city.
And all along … the Edison P-R department was saying no intentional power outages were possible in Malibu.
Of course …. the moderate windstorm killed the power in western Malibu before Edison could intentionally black us out.
And … it should be pointed out … Edison can’t even get it’s self-serving blackout plans straight.
Remember the Edison high tech weather forecast center that was supposed to give the public 48 hours warning of potential severe windstorms???
Not a peep to the public before all these power outages …
And not a peep before Edison all of a sudden told a huge swath of L-A and Ventura counties that they were all of a sudden was subject to intentional power cuts.
Here in Malibu … the power system is so rickety that a routine windstorm can take us down … with winds way below the mysterious Edison threshold to flip off the power … whatever that is.
So Edison gets a triple fail.
They failed to warn the public of pending winds and intentional black outs.
They failed to prevent a moderate Santa Ana from tearing the overhead power lines to shreds.
And they failed to get the power back on in anything approaching a timely manner.
