SCE Provides Update on Woolsey and Hill Wildfires
November 15 2018 - 8:18PM
Business Wire
Southern California Edison today provided an update on the
restoration efforts resulting from the Woolsey and Hill wildfires.
The company’s top priority continues to be the safety of customers,
first responders, employees and communities. Our thoughts and
prayers are with all of those across the state affected by the
wildfires. The company’s Emergency Operations Center continues to
deploy resources and crews to assist first responders and has been
restoring power in communities affected by the wildfires in Ventura
and Los Angeles counties where fire officials say it is safe to do
so.
The Woolsey and Hill fires impacted a total of 45,470 customers.
To date, SCE has restored power to 39,094 of those customers, or 86
percent. As of 3 p.m. today, there are still 6,376 customers
without power. SCE has replaced 249 of the 775 power poles and
other electrical equipment that were destroyed or damaged in the
Woolsey and Hill fires and crews have installed almost 19 miles of
wire.
SCE is supporting customers who have been impacted by the
Woolsey and Hill fires to help ease some of the strains during
these difficult times. This includes offering customers expedited
support in turning service on and off, waiving the charges
associated with relocating and starting new service and extended
bill payments. Dedicated SCE representatives are ready to
assist customers and are available at 1-800-250-7339, Monday –
Friday, 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. In
addition, SCE will be available at county local assistance
centers.
In addition, the company is donating $100,000 to the Disaster
Relief Fund established by United Way of Greater Los Angeles and
providing up to $100,000 in matching grants for employee donations
to the Ventura County Community Foundation, the Salvation Army and
the Humane Society of Ventura County.
CAL FIRE and the Ventura County Fire Department are
investigating the causes of the Woolsey and Hill fires. The
investigation of the Woolsey fire includes an area where SCE’s
facilities are located and the possible role of its
facilities. The area is currently under CAL FIRE’s control and
SCE has had limited access to that area, primarily to support CAL
FIRE’s activities. SCE continues to cooperate with the
investigations which may take a considerable amount of time to
complete.
Comprehensive Policies Needed to Address the Growing Threat
of Wildfires
With the increasingly serious, ever-growing wildfire threat to
California, it is unmistakably clear that further work needs to be
done to develop thoughtful, comprehensive policies to address this
statewide problem. SCE strongly supports the increased funding for
fire suppression and improved forest and land use management
policies included in SB 901 (Dodd, D-Napa). SCE will continue to
invest in hardening its infrastructure and implementing
industry-leading safety practices, as demonstrated by SCE’s
recent Grid Safety and Resiliency Program (GS&RP)
filing at the California Public Utilities Commission, and as
will be further laid out in SCE’s wildfire mitigation plan required
by SB 901.
While the state legislature has taken an important initial step
to mitigate wildfire risks through the passage of SB 901, much more
work is needed to address the critical issues of fire prevention,
suppression efforts and liability allocation. SCE believes the
state can do more, including enacting fire-smart building codes,
particularly in high fire risk areas, and ensuring the proper
allocation of legal responsibility — including SCE’s where
appropriate — for the often-tragic consequences of wildfires.
The new Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery
established under SB 901 provides an opportunity for a thoughtful,
in-depth examination of how state policy allocates liability and
compensates for fire damage. Without continued focus, the wildfire
threat will only become more acute as our climate continues to
change.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company,
Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric
utilities, serving a population of approximately 15 million via 5
million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area
within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
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Media Contact:Steve Conroy, (626) 302-2255
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