OUTAGES—Besides Blackouts, Other Power Outages Hitting

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Unexpected rolling blackouts like those that swept through Southern California last week are not the only power outage threats faced by L.A.-area businesses.

Cash-strapped Southern California Edison, in order to cut down on overtime costs, has moved virtually all of its scheduled maintenance work from nighttime and weekends to business hours, resulting in disruptive planned outages. These power cutoffs are going to be occurring on average about 20 to 30 times every month, each one typically covering a several-square-block area in Edison service territory.

In the past month, planned power out-ages have hit El Segundo, Hermosa Beach and Santa Monica, among other communities.

What distinguishes these outages from the rolling blackouts is that business and residential customers get a notice a week in advance, warning them that power will be shut down.

Not that the warning made much difference to businesses near the crowded Hermosa Beach pier, hit by two planned power outages earlier this month. The first, on March 7, took out the lights on the north side of Pier Drive; the second, a week later, hit the south side. Both outages lasted about seven hours, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while Edison crews worked to fix a faulty transformer.

“Sure, we got a warning, but there was very little we could do,” said Luis Chui, general manager of Brewski’s Brewing Co., one of about two dozen restaurants, bars and shops hit by the planned outages. “Our refrigerators went down, the grill couldn’t be used because we had no ventilation, we had to stop brewing beer, and we lost at least $3,000 in our usual weekday lunch tab.”

Chui said the timing of the planned outage was especially unfortunate, coming on the first day of sunshine after a 12-day siege of winter storms kept shoppers, tourists and beachgoers inside.

Brewski’s and other pier-area businesses have actually suffered a double-whammy: They were also hit by last week’s rolling blackouts, which came through in two waves on Monday, March 19, and lasted for about 80 minutes.

And while many who suffered through last week’s rolling blackouts said they would have liked more warning, Chui and other business owners in the pier area said the week’s warning that Edison gave them for the planned outages merely served to heighten their frustration.


‘No flexibility’

“We contacted Edison to see if they could supply us with a generator for the day, so that we could keep our coolers running,” said Conn Flatley, owner of Fat Face Fenners Fishack, a local fish restaurant. “The answer came back, ‘No.’ We asked if there was any way to reschedule from like 6 a.m. to noon, and the answer came back, ‘No.’ In fact, there was absolutely no flexibility; they essentially said ‘Tough luck.'”

Flatley said the advance notice did allow him to move some food from small refrigerators into the large cooler, which kept down the number of items that spoiled. Still, he said, he had to throw some meat away, something he didn’t have to do with the briefer rolling blackout.

Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said the utility would consider rescheduling some planned outages if it appears to be more than a mere inconvenience for customers.

“We look at this on a case-by-case basis,” Conroy said. “If it becomes very problematic for a customer to be down that long, we will consider rescheduling the work to overtime hours.”

Conroy explained that, before the power crisis hit, much of this maintenance work had been done on weekends or during the overnight shift, when disruption to businesses and residents was considered minimal.

“As part of our effort to cut down on costs, we instituted layoffs and cut overtime,” Conroy said. “But just because we don’t work overtime doesn’t mean problems will go away. When a transformer or other piece of equipment begins to fail, it’s got to be replaced before it takes down a whole section of the grid and causes larger and longer outages.”


Idled hours

None of the Hermosa Beach businesses disputed the need for repairs. “Look, that transformer was going on the blink every few months or so, causing the lights to dim or go out entirely,” said restaurant owner Flatley. “We agreed it needed to be fixed; it’s just that Edison didn’t give us any options or alternatives.”