Santa Clarita council sends letter to Southern California Edison after repeated PSPS outages; schedules CPUC meeting

The Santa Clarita City Council on Tuesday submitted a formal letter to Southern California Edison asking the utility to "accelerate grid hardening" for circuits serving the city after repeated public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events that council staff said affected "approximately 5,000 to 10,000 residents." Mayor Bill Miranda read the letter into the record and said the city will seek an immediate reply and meet with California Public Utilities Commission staff and SCE executives.

The letter, addressed to Stephen D. Powell, president and chief executive officer of Southern California Edison, said PSPS events have sometimes been implemented "with, at times, last minute notifications to rate payers and the city, or in other cases, without any prior notification," and asked SCE to accelerate hardening work on the Hillfield, Mamba and Python circuits. The council asked SCE to consider reimbursement for costs tied to outages, and said the city expects SCE to provide more accurate outage notifications and better customer-service access during PSPS events.

Why it matters: council members and multiple residents said PSPS events have created a recurring public-safety problem for people who rely on powered medical equipment, for schools, and for households that must preserve refrigerated medications and food. Several public commenters asked the city to demand faster SCE action and interim local assistance such as warming/charging centers, and to press state regulators for enforceable remedies.

Council and staff accounts Mayor Bill Miranda read the letter to SCE and said the city had already arranged meetings: "We look forward to meeting with your executive team to discuss our concerns and request for accelerated grid hardening," he said in the text he read aloud. City Manager Ken (recorded in the meeting transcript as the city manager) told the council the city will press the utility and the CPUC, and staff plans to follow up on resident complaints. "We will demand a reply almost immediately," Miranda said.

Resident reports and requests Several residents described personal hardships. Sabrina Hamble, who said her 2‑year‑old daughter is on the medical baseline with SCE, told the council the outages forced her family to leave home because they could not keep refrigerated medical food available: "I need to have her food available, refrigerated so she could eat and grow, and that has not happened," she said. The speaker asked the city to advocate to SCE for access to the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) rebates that fund emergency battery backups for medically vulnerable ratepayers.

Arlyn Smith Thomas, president of the Santa Clarita NAACP, thanked the council for pursuing the issue and encouraged continued pressure on SCE: "Please hold them hard pressed task with their feet to the fire on some solutions to this," she said.

City directions and next steps The council has not adopted a separate ordinance or emergency declaration at this meeting, but staff and elected leaders directed immediate steps: (1) the city submitted the formal letter to SCE asking for accelerated grid hardening and reimbursement for outage-related losses; (2) Mayor Miranda and Mayor Pro Tem Lorene West will meet with CPUC representatives this week and have scheduled meetings with SCE executives; and (3) staff said it will attempt to help individual residents apply for SGIP/resiliency rebates and to coordinate local sheltering and charging options.

What is unresolved Residents asked the council to insist SCE reimburse damaged food and other losses; the letter requests that but does not set a reimbursement formula. Speakers also urged the city to identify immediate sheltering/charging sites for medically vulnerable residents; staff said it will explore options and press the CPUC and SCE for interim relief. The city manager said those conversations are underway but did not announce specific commitments for reimbursement or timelines for hardening work.

Ending City officials said they expect a prompt reply from SCE and will report back to the public after the scheduled CPUC and SCE meetings. Several residents asked the council to prioritize outreach to families with medical needs and to provide a clear list of local resources while outages continue.