SCE Issues Report On Intentional Power Outage – But Fails To Explain Mandatory Issues
Written by 991KBU on November 20, 2019
Southern California Edison yesterday issued its official report on the first big intentional power outage to Malibu.
And the utility failed.
It was last October 30th … during a moderate but not severe Santa Ana … when powered to about 1000 Malibu businesses and residences was shut off on Point Dume and near Paradise Cove.
The weather prediction was for wins in the 45 to 60 mph range … with gusts possible to 75.
Malibu was added to the list of 380,000 Southern California Edison customers who might get their power blacked out that day.
Without notice to the city … at 8:45 at night the power was switched off.
Residents were infuriated.
The peak winds had already passed.
It took an entire day to get the power back on … and that were no winds at all that day.
In its official report … SCE admits that some customers did not receive at least 2 hours’ notice before de-energization.
But it does not explain why part of Malibu was blacked out.
The SCE report fails to list the Cuthbert Circuit … or Malibu at all … in its list of blackouts.
And no where does it provide any reason why any of the 86 circuits elsewhere in the SCE service area was turned off.
The electric company does not report what caused the circuit to be turned off.
The state requires Edsion to “provide a detailed description of the steps taken to restore power.”
No description was provided for any of the 86 circuits … much less for the Malibu circuit that did not make the list.
It does not say if the Malibu circuits that were de-energized … actually suffered damage.
The state requires Edison to explain its “decision criteria leading to de-energization.”
No such explanation was made.
The state requires Edison to explain “the circumstances that resulted in failure to communicate a potential …pro-active de-energization.”
Edison failed to to do that.
Edison says it suddenly had to turn off the power without advance notice because of the “sudden appearance of extreme winds.”
But the company fails to explain how fast those winds were … or explain why the blackout was substituted after the strongest winds had passed.
On October 30th … Edison failed to deliver safe and reliable power … as required by state law.
Yesterday … Edison failed to explain why it shut off the power … as required by state rules.
The Edison report was filed late yesterday.
We’ll ask the utility why the Malibu intentional blackout was not reported to the state as required by the California Public Utilities Commission.
And we will keep you posted.
