Desperate times call for desperate measures, and given California’s new reality of a violent, never-ending fire season wrought by global climate change, Southern California Edison has implemented a controversial public-safety strategy of shutting off power when the weather turns dangerous. “As an electrical company, we pride ourselves on keeping the lights on,” Edison’s Bill Chiu told the Santa Barbara City Council last Tuesday. “This goes against all our instincts.”
Edison’s announcement comes on the heels of a finding by state investigators that live PG&E power lines rattled by strong winds sparked October 2017’s deadly wildfires in Northern California, and just as Edison is addressing multiple lawsuits alleging…READ MORE.
Editor's note: This post was originally published on Santa Barbara Independent on August 9, 2018.