I am a regular contributor to the "Pasadena Weekly" in Pasadena, CA, but this is my first diary on Daily Kos. Hope you like it.
Some background information: During the night of Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2011, Pasadena and surrounding communities in the San Gabriel Valley experienced a severe Santa Ana wind storm, which sometimes produced hurricane-force winds. There was a lot of damage and widespread power outages. I subsequently investigated the relative performances of two utilities which provide power to the San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena Water & Power and Southern California Edison. My investigation resulted in an article in the Dec. 29 issue of the "Pasadena Weekly." Here is the link to that article:
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/...
The article also comprises this diary.
The next time you hear a Republican politician say government can’t do anything right and all services should be handled by the private sector, consider the recent experience of San Gabriel Valley residents during and after the severe windstorm of Nov. 30/Dec. 1.
On the one hand, we have the city of Pasadena, which receives electricity from its own public, not for-profit utility, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP). On the other hand, we have the surrounding cities of Sierra Madre, La Cañada-Flintridge, Monrovia, San Marino and Temple City, all of which receive their electricity from the private, for-profit utility Southern California Edison (SCE). The unincorporated town of Altadena also receives its electricity from SCE. So how did these various communities fare during and after the windstorm of Nov. 30/Dec. 1?
Even taking into account its larger size, Pasadena was perhaps the hardest hit of all of these communities, with at least 1200 downed trees and close to $30 million in damages. The wind gusts in Pasadena were as high, and perhaps even higher, than in the surrounding communities. Nevertheless, according to Erica Rolufs, a spokesperson for PWP, only 10% of PWP customers (businesses and homes) lost power. Of those that did, within 48 hours the number of customers without power had been reduced to less than 1%. Everyone I know in Pasadena, including my employer, never lost power.
How did it go for SCE customers? According to the Pasadena Weekly (12/01/2011) and the Valley Sun (12/11/2011), the entire town of Altadena experienced a complete blackout. Everyone I know in Altadena lost power, including me. In La Cañada-Flintridge, 100% of homes and businesses lost power, according to Rabo Parseghin, a Management Analyst in Public Works. Sierra Madre? More than 90% of residents and businesses lost power, according to Public Information Officer James Carlson. Monrovia? Public Information Officer Dan Bell estimates 75-80% of Monrovia homes and businesses lost power. In San Marino, 100% of homes and businesses lost power, according to Fire Marshall Jim Frawley. Finally, Brian Haworth, Assistant to the City Manager in Temple City, reports that 75% of SCE customers in that community lost power.
So, in terms of maintaining the delivery of electricity during a bad windstorm, it is obvious that PWP was far superior to SCE. In addition, there have been numerous reports about how slow SCE was in restoring electricity to its powerless and shivering customers. Some SCE customers had to wait up to six days for power to return. SCE’s performance was so bad that it has been roundly criticized by politicians across the political spectrum, from Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff to Republican L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. Furthermore, on Dec. 7 the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) announced it will investigate the reasons for the “prolonged power outages” in SCE’s service area. So far the PUC has not launched an investigation of any other Southern California utility.
SCE has been whining that all of the downed trees and storm debris made it difficult to gain the access needed to make critical repairs. Hmmm….PWP also had to deal with a lot of downed trees and storm debris, yet it got the power going again much faster than did SCE.
In light of the far superior performance of PWP compared to SCE in the recent windstorm and its aftermath, it’s worth examining the respective “business models” of these two utilities. PWP is community-owned and its first priority is to serve its customers. It is not driven by profit, and surpluses it may accrue are sometimes turned over to the city’s general fund. PWP’s General Manager, currently Phyllis Currie, cannot earn more than $209,000 a year. Most importantly, PWP emphasizes preventative maintenance to keep its infrastructure reliable.
In contrast, SCE is a for-profit business that is concerned with its stock price and ability to pay dividends to its shareholders. Edison International is the corporate parent of SCE, but SCE contributed more than 80% of Edison’s revenue in 2009. Edison International earned $1.25 billion for its shareholders in 2010, up sharply from $849 million in 2009. And Edison increased the dividend on its common stock for 2011 from $1.26 to $1.28 per share (Guaging Corporate Financial Results). For fiscal year 2010, the total compensation paid to SCE’s President, Ronald Litzinger, was $2,610,760 (Business Week), or more than 10 times that of Phyllis Currie. Other SCE executives were lavishly compensated in ways similar to Mr. Litzinger.
Finally, SCE’s commitment to preventative maintenance seems dubious, as the photo accompanying this article illustrates:
These SCE power lines are a block from my house. Their frayed and shredded condition indicates they should have been replaced a long time ago. An old line like one of those pictured was torn down by the recent windstorm near my house, and its snapping had nothing to do with a falling tree. A Dec. 2, 6:00 pm press release issued by Sierra Madre (about 40 hours after the end of the wind storm) announced that “At this time, SCE is only responding to 911 wire-down calls.” No wonder it took them so long to restore power.
About 10 years ago Pasadena came under pressure to privatize PWP, but fortunately the city resisted. Let’s hear it for “socialized electricity!”
Photo by Joan Depew