Jim de Bree | Dealing with Public Safety Power Shutoffs
We are all shocked by the unprecedented devastation of the recent fires. Our hearts go out to the fire victims.
Clearly those who responded to the fires are all heroes. Thankfully, for the most part, Santa Clarita residents avoided harm’s way.
However, there is one lingering ancillary issue affecting many Santa Clarita Valley residents — the controversial Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program Southern California Edison uses to mitigate the risk of wildfires by shutting off power in areas where high winds might cause downed powerlines to start a fire.
I am certainly no expert in terms of solving these issues, but I wanted to share my thoughts hoping to stimulate a problem-solving discussion.
Many residents attended a recent Santa Clarita City Council meeting to complain about sudden and lengthy losses of power because of PSPS actions undertaken by SCE.
In SCE’s defense, based on the financial repercussions to Pacific Gas & Electric after fires in northern California were found to be caused by downed power lines, shutting off power in high-risk areas is currently the only way for SCE to mitigate potential liability for fire dangers from high winds.
On SCE’s website it states, “SCE is targeting the highest-risk........
© Santa Clarita Valley Signal
