Palm Springs homeowner complains about So Cal Edison’s planned power outage during hot weather
Palm Springs homeowner Dennis Senior expressed concern and frustration, while looking at a notice from So Cal Edison, informing him of a planned power outage for his neighborhood, “Deep Well Ranch”, which he said was set for Friday, June 14th, from 8:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon.
So Cal Edison will perform maintenance on some power lines.
“The fact that Edison is now trying to shut the power off, during triple digit (heat), is just absurd to me,” said Senior.
Senior and his partner, who work from home, will be inconvenienced, but are more concerned about elderly neighbors, some of whom rely on electric medical devices.
He also thinks Edison should provide more advance notice on the outage.
“It’s such short notice, they give you a week, and you know, again, by the time you get the notification, and figure it out, it’s a very short amount of time to make planning,” said Senior.
We contacted So Cal Edison to get the utility’s response to Senior’s concerns.
Edison spokesperson Robert Viegas, tells News Channel Three the planned outages are “unavoidable” and a “necessity” to perform regular maintenance on equipment.
He says for the valley this summer, Edison expects about an average of 90 planned outages a month in various locations, a number which he says will be about the same as it was last summer.
“This is work that needs to get done in order to ensure the reliability of the system,” said Viegas.
For edison customers who are in line for a planned outage, Viegas says, “typically, they will be notified five to ten days in advance”, by letter, phone call, or email, depending on the customer’s preference.
“We understand what an inconvenience and what a hardship it can be sometimes, for customers to be without power,” said Viegas.
Meanwhile, for the roughly one-third of Coachella Valley residents who get power from Imperial Irrigation District, we are told there are no planned outages scheduled for this summer.
But, a district representative says that could change, depending on unexpected breakdowns or maintenance issues that could occur.
“We know summer is a big drain on everybody, and air conditioners, summer bills, things like that, so we work during the winter to do most of, all those maintenance things that we can get done,” said Bob Schletter.
Both So Cal Edison and Imperial Irrigation District have information on what to do if and when an outage occurs, planned or unplanned, and links to that information are included below.
