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Agoura Hills council presses Southern California Edison on communications and compensation after extended power safety shutoffs
Summary
Agoura Hills officials pressed Southern California Edison representatives on Feb. 12 over communication breakdowns and uneven support during recent public-safety power shutoffs, urging better notice for residents and broader consideration of customer relief.
Agoura Hills — Southern California Edison representatives introduced themselves at the Agoura Hills City Council meeting on Feb. 12 and answered questions about the utility's response to recent public-safety power shutoffs (PSPS). Council members and residents urged clearer communication, more reliable support centers and consideration of customer relief for losses during extended outages.
Adrian Garcia, SCE—s new government relations manager for the area, told the council he intends to serve as a liaison between the utility and the city. Josh Vittores, principal manager of government relations, also attended. Garcia said he is available to answer issues and will work to improve communication between the utility and local governments.
Councilmembers described circumstances during the most recent outages that left residents without power for multiple days, sometimes without a clear understanding of outage duration. Councilmember Deborah Klein Lopez said residents lost food and medicines and that the outages posed particular hardship for elderly residents and people on fixed incomes. She asked SCE to take the council's concerns back to the company and to improve communications.
Councilmember Wolf and others raised a separate, related concern: cellular coverage. Councilmembers reported that several cell towers had only one day of backup battery power and went offline on the second day of outages, leaving some residents without emergency alerts. Councilmember Anderson asked whether SCE would ensure that all residents can access support-center assistance; she suggested the utility consider broad credits for customers who did not learn about support centers and therefore did not receive $50 assistance cards that were distributed at some centers.
Garcia and Vittores heard the concerns and said they would follow up. Garcia acknowledged the events in January were unprecedented and said SCE was reviewing its response and learning from them. He said SCE was open to follow-up conversations and encouraged the city to continue sharing resident experiences so the utility can respond.
No council action was taken at the meeting; the session served as an informational exchange and a public request for improved coordination, communication and consideration of customer relief.
