Hold SCE Accountable: Stop Multi-Day Blackouts and Invest in Piru’s Power Grid

The Issue

Piru residents are paying for reliable electricity, but we keep getting left in the dark.

During recent weather events, families in Piru endured three consecutive days without electricity. It has become a predictable, unacceptable pattern: whenever weather or wildfire risks arise, Piru is among the first communities to have its power cut by Southern California Edison (SCE) and among the very last to have service restored.
Shutting off our power for days at a time is not a long-term safety solution—it is a failure of infrastructure maintenance.
We pay for maintenance every single month. Look at any SCE bill in Piru, and you will see line-item charges explicitly designated for keeping the system running:
Base Services Charges: Fixed monthly fees (up to $24.15/month) to cover ongoing operations and equipment upkeep.
Distribution Charges: Per-kWh fees designated for local power lines, substations, and hardware.
Fixed Recovery Charges (FRC): State-mandated fees specifically meant to fund wildfire mitigation and grid hardening.
Despite paying these mandatory fees, Piru’s electrical supply lines appear neglected. Rather than investing in physical grid resilience, line maintenance, and covered conductors, SCE relies on prolonged Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) as a crutch.
Multi-day outages are not just inconvenient—they are dangerous.
They cause hundreds of dollars in spoiled groceries for working families, force local businesses to close, disrupt remote work, cut off residents who rely on electric water pumps, and endanger vulnerable neighbors who depend on medical equipment. Rural communities like Piru should not be treated as a low priority or a sacrifice zone simply because of our zip code.
What We Are Demanding:
By signing this petition, we call on Southern California Edison, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and our Elected Representatives to immediately take the following actions:
Conduct an Independent Grid & Line Maintenance Audit: The CPUC and local representatives must order a full audit of the transmission and distribution lines feeding Piru to identify infrastructure deficiencies and track where our maintenance fees have been spent.
Prioritize Immediate Grid Hardening for Piru (ZIP 93040): SCE must accelerate infrastructure upgrades—including undergrounding high-risk lines, installing covered conductors, and sectionalizing circuits—so that shutoffs are no longer the primary risk-mitigation tool.
Establish Clear Restoration & Accountability Standards: SCE leadership must be held accountable for disproportionately long outage durations in rural Ventura County, ensuring restoration times match surrounding suburban and urban areas.
Provide Local Backup Power Resources: Until long-term grid hardening is complete, SCE and Ventura County must provide local community resilience resources, including temporary generation support during multi-day shutoff events.
Stop treating Piru like an afterthought. Sign the petition today to demand reliable power and accountability from SCE!