On Tuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) held a public hearing to discuss Southern California Edison’s (SCE) execution of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) in response to weather events in 2020.
Hosted by leaders from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection, the meeting aimed to publicly address the identified mistakes by SCE in regard to the use of PSPS.
“Shutoffs must be a measure of last resort,” said CPUC President Marybel Batjer during Tuesday’s meeting. “For many, loss of power means loss of income, loss of education for a day or more, and fear for those who are medically vulnerable and rely on machines. They put lives and livelihoods at stake.”
Batjer also directed a letter to SCE asking for the utility’s plan for corrective actions based on these concerns.
SCE has faced criticism for their use and execution of PSPS, a practice that allows the company to shut off power in areas where extreme weather could contribute to natural disasters, such as wildfires. Most recently, a PSPS was put to use during last week’s wind events, leaving thousands of Santa Clarita residents without power.
SCE’s use of notifications and warnings for these power shut-offs were also brought up during the meeting, with concerns about their accuracy and clarity.
“We recognize the importance of getting customer notifications right,” said SCE CEO Thomas Payne. “The variance between customer notifications sent and actual number of customers de-energized reflects, in part, SCE’s commitment to de-energize as few customers as possible while protecting public safety and adhering to notification requirements.”
Customers complained that they either received no notification before their power was shut off or received a warning but never had their power shut off.
“We’re doing an end to end review of that process and looking at if we should modify the notices we put out,” said Jill Anderson, senior vice president for SCE. “We’ve been updating the way we describe the different alerts as well. We are also working proactively to capture the latest customer contact information.”
Callers, including customers, elected officials and representatives, repeatedly brought up concerns about the safety effects of PSPSs, such as traffic lights, water access, and food and medicine preservation. In areas like Agua Dulce and Acton where many residents rely on electricity for access to water, the PSPS could result in dangerous situations.
“We need to end this practice,” said Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, who called in to Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s a tremendous public safety issue. I am more than ever convinced that the harm done by these shutdowns is greater than the harm and risk of the threat of fires in our area.”
After hearing public opinion on Edison’s performance, the second half of the meeting focused on SCE’s plans for improving their PSPS system, including outreach, compensation and determining when and where to shut power off.
To see Edison’s plan for improvement and review of their performance in 2020, click here.
SoCal Edison plans to host a public workshop with utility companies and communities impacted at the end of February.
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