Edison Shares Public Safety Power Shutoff Plans for Fire Season
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Public alerts and prevention were top of mind when the Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council met with officials from Southern California Edison in a debriefing session.
It took place via Zoom and was open to the public Thursday morning.
Edison shared the latest on its staffing, preparations, community outreach, criteria and on site resources for Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).
Edison Senior Advisor for Wildfire Jude Schneider said, “we notify you as we can one to three days in advance. The notifications mention high winds and fire conditions. They’re shared with jurisdictions, are shared with the counties.”
But in some cases violent winds and a rapidly unfolding fire scene for a variety of reasons will happen without an Edison power line warning.
Schneider said, “in a huge windstorm, we will potentially have lines that come down. And if those lines come down it’s an emergency outage.”
The company is also using drones to inspect lines in dangerous areas or after wind storms to make sure they are not at risk of causing a fire. They can be used in mountain areas to speed up the return of power.
Dead trees or those threatening power lines are on an on-going list for removals from the company on a regular basis along with brush clearing around power poles and towers.
“Last year in 2025, we inspected and cleared brush around 157,691 structures, ” said Edison Senior Specialist for Vegetation Management Janice Marinucci. For trees that are dead or diseased, she says “we will come in and we’ll remove that tree just to ensure that the power lines are safe.”
Even without an alert there is a warning. Marinucci said, “Santa Barbara District has a lot of high fire risk areas. The majority of it is high fire risk. “
Edison has been challenged by lawsuits and harsh public comments from fires that have, at times, started from energized lines that come down.
Members of the council and fire leaders spoke about collaborating with Edison to make sure the public is getting timely information in English and Spanish and that the company and fire agencies have an open line of communication.
Many government and fire agency representatives were on the zoom link along with well-organized mountain residents in the Painted Cave community.
Suggestions were also made for back up power supplies especially for those with medical devices.
Edison does community outreach in the power shutoff location with vans that can be used for charging, information needs and to provide some basic snacks and water for those who are displaced.
For more information go to: Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council
The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.