Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Psps topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Southern California Edison outlines PSPS criteria and undergrounding work for La Habra Heights
Summary
Southern California Edison told the La Habra Heights City Council that PSPS events are a component of its wildfire mitigation strategy and described ongoing surveys and possible undergrounding or covered-conductor work; residents pressed the utility about which lines would be affected and coordination with telecommunications providers.
Southern California Edison officials gave a detailed briefing to the La Habra Heights City Council on May 12 about the utility’s wildfire-mitigation efforts, including the company’s use of public-safety power shutoffs (PSPS), grid-hardening projects and surveys to determine when to underground lines.
At the meeting Rebecca Lansing, SCE’s government-relations manager, said PSPS is one tool among many “to prevent wildfire ignitions during periods of high winds accompanied by dry vegetation and low humidity,” and that SCE began formal PSPS operations in 2018. She said SCE uses weather models, field patrols and a fire-potential index to decide when to consider de-energizing circuits and that not every alert leads to an outage.
The utility described several mitigation approaches: targeted undergrounding where feasible, installing covered conductor on some distribution circuits, and ongoing vegetation management in rights-of-way. Susan Morgan of SCE’s permitting team said SCE has recent survey crews in the city gathering data for a future undergrounding project, but stressed surveys do not guarantee undergrounding: the company uses a risk-based prioritization and limited funds to “get the most bang for our buck.”
Residents raised technical and timing questions. Steven Black asked whether the multiple sets of transmission lines north of the city are live and whether unused lines could be removed; SCE said to their knowledge the lines in question are active and that transmission right-of-way is likely to remain in place to support future clean-energy transmission needs. Residents also asked whether telecommunications companies are compelled to go underground with electric utilities; SCE and staff said SCE notifies joint-pole partners but cannot force them to underground and that telecom firms may choose whether to participate.
SCE emphasized customer notifications and tools: address-level PSPS alerts via email, text and voice calls, and an online outage map for customers to check addresses. Lansing and staff said SCE would follow up on specific circuit maps requested by the council and return with additional detail when available.
The presentation concluded with SCE offering to provide follow-up materials and maps; councilmembers asked staff to share findings with residents and to continue coordination with SCE on undergrounding opportunities and vegetation concerns.
