Good Afternoon,

I recently relocated to Tehachapi CA (Bear Valley Springs) from the East coast in August. When I purchased my home I was not informed of the regular safety power outages I would be subject to at the whim of the power company. In the last month I have experienced 4 “planned” power outages (some without warning) lasting from 24 to 48 hours straight. I am a single parent who works from home and participates in a full time online masters program while my three children attend virtual learning. Days of work have been lost, assignments late, and school for my children canceled. I recently had to spend $600 on a small generator to provide power for basic essentials (not including heat- I am still unable to heat my home so when it gets too cold my children and I sit in our car to warm up). I have had to throw away groceries and spend money to purchase food since I am unable to cook. I cannot afford many more “planned outages”. While I would expect to see savings on my electric bill due to all of the down time, to my surprise my bill remains the same. After a closer look I noticed the rates are just increased to cover those periods of down time resulting in no loss for SCE. The major retail stores are unaffected and I can only assume it’s because they have the legal means to sue SCE for loss of revenue. The residents in Tehachapi, mostly Bear Valley, have been expected to absorb the total loss for this ill conceived safety plan without consideration for our personal safety or financial and physical health. A 4 minute notice for an intentional 48 hour power outage is simply unacceptable. We are paying customers, it is winter and we simply should not be treated this way. Due to the limited options, we are forced to do business with SCE as alternative options may not be financially doable for everyone at this time, and it would appear that SCE is exploiting that circumstance. SCE is in the business of supplying power, if they are unable to do so safely then perhaps they should invest in new techniques and technology that allows them to do so or they should not be in the business at all. Shutting off power to thousands of homes every time the wind blows ( in the mountains that’s quite often) is not a sufficient or satisfactory approach to mitigating the fire safety issue. SCE has shown no proof that this method has even been an effective approach. How many fires were averted due to the safety outages? What conditions warrant a shut off? What is being done to upgrade the infrastructure so this is in fact a temporary situation? What energy credits does SCE plan to provide those heavily affected? Will they provide funding for back up generators? How are the residents of Tehachapi being considered in their plans going forward? This is not a sustainable long term solution and although I have only been here 5 months,  if this continues at this rate I will have to consider relocating once again. It’s just unimaginable to think that a power company is allowed to hold an entire town hostage with little regulation dictating what they can and cannot do. For example introducing a policy limiting the outages to 2 hour blocks of time per every so many hours would have provided residents some relief by not allowing SCE to turn off power with reinstatement TBD.

I am writing to you from my couch, going on hour 24 of the latest PSPS, with three children huddled next to me and an unlit Christmas tree on Christmas Eve where we all slept so that we can stay as warm as possible while I monitor the small generator through my window to ensure it, in fact, does not cause any fires. Merry Christmas.

Thank you for your time.