Edhat Staff
September 8, 2019, 10:16 am
9.5k Views
28 Comments
By edhat staff
On Saturday and Sunday, Southern California Edison (SCE) enabled the first-ever Public Safety Power Shutoff due to warm temperatures, red flag warnings, and high wind warnings.
How did everyone do? Share your experiences in the comment section.
Read more about the power outage here.
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Edison is not burying and will not bury the lines. Any regular here knows the story, but briefly…our mountains are made of stone; limestone, sandstone and shale, not topsoil. There is no way to get through the boulders and rock formations up there and recoup the cost let alone have it done in our lifetime.
What a bunch of crybabies. “ask our Supervisors and County Government CEO and Dept. Heads what they plan to do to protect us . . .” “Wow, what ultimate control these utility companies have.””Noleta residents couldn’t decipher Edison’s plans” “I’ve heard they shut the power down in my area” “Our local powerful residents in certain communities know the owners and Board members” Local governments have little or no control in these matters. If you’ve got a bitch take it to the Public Utilities Com mission. As for “Wondering if all Edison customers will receive a discount . . .” you have got to be kidding, you pay for kilowatt-hours delivered. The PSPS shutdown was on the Gaviota coast, the other shutdowns were caused by damage from high winds; unreasonable expectations are at fault for virtually all the complaints.
They will never bury the lines. It’s impossible to bury the 200kV main transmission lines that snake to us from Ventura through the mountains and chaparral.
Says the person who tries to hide their handle behind a black bar… No cause was ever identified for the 154 outage. There was even an Edison helicopter flying over the area this morning, probably inspecting the lines. I suspect Edison shut off the Noleta area and called it “Equipment Failure” after they told everyone they wouldn’t get a PSPS shutdown. Power came back on exactly at 1230pm per their estimate, despite them never identifying a problem and dispatching a repair crew.
I’m not hiding “MT” my handle is “Z.” Is it really suspicious that they made a good time estimate? What do they get out of shutting off Noleta electricity? They may not have dispatched a repair crew; they contract out a lot of their maintenance/repair/installation work. What’s so suspicious about a helicopter? Are you hiding something?
You make a very good point Shasta Guy, the cost to bury such a high potential line is higher than SCE stockholders would consider. It is technologically dooable even under todays’ strict environmental requirements and serves long term public good, but not short term stockholder good. And so there we are.
Good grief, they warned of turning off power. Take precautions when warned, block ice in fridge, battery lamps. What do you suppose our ancestors did when there was no electricity or phones. Somehow they survived or we wouldn’t be here. Of course they are taking precautions when there are high winds predicted and excessively dry conditions. If their lines started a fire there would be screaming . Supposedly the Thomas fire was caused by lines blown down. Want a repeat?
I suppose that our ancestors had a level of capacity to survive, and a level of “Common Sense” that has virtually evaporated today. My grandparents and great grandparents (3) explained plenty of what survival required of them. Survival. We now live in insular worlds, worlds that requiresreconnection.
@ Flicka it’s easy for you to talk while sitting in a house with electricity on in this heat. Do you have A/C on too while eating frozen ice cream? Our fans can’t work without power and our ice cream has melted! Speaking of the Thomas fire, why aren’t there any planned outages in Montecito or Carpinteria? Then you would you be complaining too. 3-5 days no power is way too long for anybody to endure in this heat!
A-1567994590 2 4 SEP 08, 2019 04:10 PM—–Agreed. 3-5 days is a punishment. Our refrigerator has been acting up for a while and just trying to keep food from spoiling is in itself extremely stressful, nevermind attempting to stay cool ourselves. 3-5 days is too long. We should be thankful cooler days are coming.
LOCALMATT: you said it perfectly, self reliance is the key. In the end, your degree of self reliance and preparation is the only way to offset discomforts associated with one of these extended power outages. SCE’s communication was terrible and inconsistent. I’ve started freezing my blocks of ice in my garage freezer. I definitely need more battery powered LED lights, and I figure I’ll charge our phones in our cars. My neighbors are elderly. From MT’s posts I am seriously considering a small generator now. Rant and complain if you want, but you better think about what you’ll do when we get a PSPS outage that lasts >24 hrs, possibly shuts down grocery stores, and perhaps shuts down credit card transactions. This was the baby outage with less than 1000 affected for only 24hrs.
Voice your concerns to the Public Utilities Comission, the Governor, our representatives in Sacramento and Washington. Anything less than that is next to useless. I believe that some elderly and health compromised people will not survive an extended power outage as happened in France a few years ago during and extended heatwave. It’s not just about having a stiff upper lip facing discomfort, but for some it will be a life or death situation for the sole reason of pleasing insurance companies and shareholders.
“Public Safety” would be better served leaving power on. Only 9% of fires start from downed power lines; turning off power in advance is an extreme measure. Noleta residents couldn’t decipher Edison’s plans from their website.
Wondering if all Edison customers will receive a discount when mandatory shut off occurs.
We, in Painted Cave, were informed yesterday that we were no longer being considered for the shut off, but the power went out abruptly a little after 6pm. Power is still out, with a planned outage all day tomorrow to replace pole, and another on Thursday to replace another pole. We’re still listed in the very first stage of “Outage reported” on the Edison website. This is coupled with the fact that the batteries in the phone box for the community are dead – so we are also without phones mountain wide. The word ‘boondoggle’ comes to mind.
You should leave them channelfog. Santa Barbara would be much better off without all the complainers
Three-card monte, shutoffs by Edison — is a confidence game in which the victim, or “mark”, is tricked.
SBSB…….., Santa Barbara is nothing like it was decades ago, and unfortunately that goes for the Nation as well. Yes, we sold and moved to another third world country where the power is reliable and the down trodden receive at least basic care. We do have to speak Spanish here though 🙂
Wow, what ultimate control these utility companies have. Very scary. What if the people were having a protest? Or the government didn’t like something we were doing? “Oooopppps. Your power is out. You can’t open your garages, charge your phones/computers, keep your food from spoiling, use your fans, buy stuff at stores, etc, etc, etc…” No, its not horrible so far. But the ability for absolute control is in their hands. Fear is a powerful tool.
Power is still out. No update and no clear idea when power will be back on. That is some BS. At least give us some information instead of (literally) leaving us in the dark.
I’ve lived here for my entire life and I can count the times the power went out on one hand. He have extremely reliable utilities. Go to Haiti for a week to see what unreliable utilities are like.
You must have a lot of fingers! 🙂
I’ve been here all my life as well (except for a short period away), and there have been plenty of power outages from fires, repairs, and general failures. Though this is the first time it’s been off as a preventative measure. I’m curious what Edison is doing to bury their lines so we don’t have this problem anymore…
The European death toll in 2003 was 70,000 people, mostly seniors without cooling. “In France, 14,802 heat-related deaths (mostly among the elderly) occurred during the heat wave…August, 2003.” Thank you, WINTER, SHASTA GUY, and others who are standing up for seniors. You are what God intended. To the accusers, please change your hearts; it’s not too late, yet.
Gaviota fire was started by a poorly-maintained generator installation. If I recall correctly, the makeshift exhaust system ignited an open container of gasoline in the generator shed. Keep your generator outside, away from doors and windows. Maintain a fire watch while using a portable generator; read and follow the instructions.
Ban generators; they start fires. That makes as much sense as pre-emptively turning off power. “Buying individual generators to provide power during a PSPS is not a viable solution. Generators can be expensive and a cost many people cannot afford. They require special wiring that, if not done right, may backfeed power into the grid where it, too, could cause a fire.” https://www.noozhawk.com/article/will_shutting_off_power_to_prevent_wildfires_inflict_more_harm_than_protect
Well I guess this is the new reality, Red Flag called and the power goes off until it is lifted. I ordered a generator from Home Depot. But I have to wonder if the danger from the power lines is less or more than the danger from hundreds of us living in the boondocks running gasoline powered generators? I remembered that the 1955 Refugio Fire that burned 85,000 acres was caused by a generator.
The danger from the generators is far higher. This isn’t about safety. It’s strictly about liability. If you kill your family with carbon monoxide from your generator or it starts a fire that burns down your neighborhood that’s a tragedy but not the fault of your power supplier.
5,038 reads, 58 comments. Lots of good comments, I’ve learned so much and thank each of you.