Future community forums planned March 23 in Valley Center, March 30 in Ramona and April 6 in Warner Springs. View schedule here.

By Miriam Raftery

March 22, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – At the Descanso Town Hall on March 16^th,  SDG&E representatives met with residents to discuss efforts to improve fire safety and hear community concerns, including ideas for reducing impacts of power shut-offs during high fire-risk weather conditions. Representatives from 211 San Diego , the local Red Cross, the Descanso Fire Safe Council and the area’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) were also on hand.

Portions of Descanso had a dozen or more outages late last year, much to the frustration of many residents.  But the outskirts of Descanso have also had among the most extreme conditions. 

By Miriam Raftery

January 28, 2018 (San Diego) – The Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) has issued a recommendation urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to deny a request by three utility companies for a rehearing, after the CPUC ruled that San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) cannot charge ratepayers for its uninsured losses from the 2007 Witch, Guejito and Rice wildfires.

By Miriam Raftery

Updated September 6, 2018 with response from SDG&E

September 4, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Supervisor Dianne Jacob has sent a letter to California Public Utilities Chairman Michael Picker requesting a formal investigation and independent review by the agency into  San Diego Gas & Electric’s decision to shut off power to thousands of San Diego County residents during recent Santa Ana winds, ostensibly to prevent power lines from sparking fires. 

In an email to ECM, a CPUC spokesman has confirmed that the regulatory agency will conduct an investigation into the intentional outages.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Dennis Richardson

December 19, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has responded to our inquiry seeking answers to questions raised by concerned readers during planned outages to 17,000 SDG&E customers due to last week’s high winds, which ECM reported on here and here.

Helen Gao,  communications manager for Sempra Energy,  parent company of SDG&E,  sent the following reply to our questions on topics including loss claims, factors that determine when to shut off power, people with medical needs, support for residents during outages in need of water and communications, adjusting bills to eliminate charges during outages, and what might be done in communities with repeated outages to reduce or eliminate that need in the future.

Below is her response in full, followed by comments from rural residents with contrasting opinions on the outages:

Save receipts, take photos, and document your losses

East County News Service

December 8, 2017 (San Diego) – If you suffered damages due to planned power outages, you can submit a claim to SDG&E asking for reimbursement, says Helen Gao. SDG&E has posted information on its website:  https://www.sdge.com/business/services/making-claim or scroll down to view the information provided by the utility:

“We will vigorously pursue all available avenues to overturn this decision.“ -- Lee Schavrien, SDG&E senior vice president and regulatory officer

      By Miriam Raftery

 November 30, 2017 (San Diego) – Ten years after the 2007 firestorms, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ruled today that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) cannot charge ratepayers $379 million for the utility’s uninsured losses due to damages in the 2007 firestorms.  By a unanimous decision, the CPUC ruled that SDG&E did not reasonably manage and operate its equipment, which Cal Fire found caused or contributed to the Witch, Guejito and Rice fires.

By Miriam Raftery

October 31, 2017 (San Diego) – An ex-parte meeting between representatives of Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison and a California Public Utilities Commissioner’s advisor was held October 4^th regarding the application by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) for authorization to recover costs related to the 2007 wildfires.  SDG&E has sought to charge ratepayers for its uninsured losses pursuant to a Wildfire Expense Management Account (WEMA).

Update:  The CPUC has announced it will hold this agenda item slated for the Thursday morning hearing, meaning no vote will be taken on this agenda item.  Public comment will still be accepted before all five commissioners at the start of the mornng hearing .

Public comment will also be taken during an all parties meeting later in the day, but not all commisioners will be present at the later meeting. See more details at the end of this story.

By Miriam Raftery

September 26, 2017 (San Diego) –The California Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the Chula Vista City Council Chambers  (276 Fourth Ave., Chula Vista) on the CPUC’s proposed decision to deny SDG&E’s application to charge ratepayers $379 million for recovery of its uninsured losses related to the 2007 Witch, Rice and Guejito wildfires.  A similar request for $594 million was previously denied in 2012.

SDG&E sought to recover those losses through a Wildfire Expense  Memorandum Account (WEMA).  The proposed decision against SDG&E has drawn praise from some, including Supervisor Dianne Jacob, but concerns from others including a fire survivor and intervener in the case.  Some ratepayer advocates also warn that the CPUC could  change its mind on the proposed denial of SDG&E’s WEMA application or postpone action following ex-parte lobbying efforts by the utility company.

Customers are encouraged to save energy to earn a bill credit

September 1, 2017 (San Diego) --   San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has called a Reduce Your Use Rewards event for today, Friday, Sept. 1, due to continued hot weather throughout the region causing a rise in electric demand. To reduce strain on the electric grid, SDG&E is encouraging customers to reduce their energy use between 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

By doing so, those who are signed up for the program will be eligible to earn a bill credit of $.75 per kilowatt hour saved or $1.25 credit per kilowatt hour saved with enabling technology, like a smart thermostat. If you’re not on the Reduce Your Use rewards program, it’s not too late to join.

By Miriam Raftery

August 28, 2017 (Jamul) – The Jamul-Dulzura Community Planning Group is seeking a park in Jamul. At its last meeting, the group voted unanimously to approve a proposal by Joe Stuyvesant to ask SDG&E to donate a 3.75 parcel that it purchased from Simpson Nursery for a community park.

According to the meeting minutes, SDG&E pad $1 million for the property, but the value may have dropped to as little as $180,000, giving SDG&E a tax advantage to donate the parcel, which the County could be asked to maintain as a park for the benefit of residents. Stuyvesant offered to head a sub-committee if SDG&E will agree to the proposal.

Below is a copy of the letter sent to SDG&E:

By Miriam Raftery

July 21, 2017 (Jamul) – At last month’s Jamul-Dulzura Planning Group meeting, concerns were raised over Sunrise Powerlink Mitigation grants – specifically, why some homes near the high voltage line in Deerhorn Valley received no grant money, while homes in Alpine further area where added to the eligible area for grants and did receive funds. Questions have also been raised as to why Alpine has representation on the Sunrise Powerlink Fire Mitigation Board, but Deerhorn Valley/Jamul does not.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

June 23, 2017 (Julian-Shelter Valley) –  A planned power outage is scheduled  starting at 9 p.m. on Monday night,  June 26 through  6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, June 27 in the Shelter Valley area and the outskirts of Julian; a majority of the customers are in the eastern Julian area surrounding Banner Grade, SDG&E has announced.  Julian’s downtown historic district will not be affected.

The outage is needed to replace older power lines and equipment to make the system more weather- and fire-resilient. 

Below is the notice from SDG&E with full details for customers in the affected areas:

East County News Service

May 1, 2017 (Jamul) – When SDG&E received approval to build the Sunrise Powerlink high voltage lines across rural East County, the company was required to provide fire mitigation grant of up to $2,000 for impacted homeowners to create defensible space through landscaping and/or install fire-hardening building materials to protect their properties.

East County News Service

New facility, built in partnership with AES Energy Storage, will enhance regional energy reliability while maximizing renewable energy use,

February 24, 2017 (San Diego) -- Today, SDG&E is showcasing the world’s largest lithium-ion battery energy storage facility in partnership with AES Energy Storage, which will enhance regional energy reliability while maximizing renewable energy use. The 30 megawatt (MW) energy storage facility is capable of storing up to 120 megawatt hours of energy, the energy equivalent of serving 20,000 customers for four hours.

By Miriam Raftery

February 9, 2017 (Poway) –Judge O'Rourke on the Fourth District Court of Appeal has issued a decision finding that Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss erred in not allowing 2007 wildfire survivor William Michael Hensley to present evidence of emotional distress damages.

According to the court decision, William Hensley was out of town when the wildfire forced his wife, Linda, and their daughter to evacuate.  Worried about their safety, he came home early and drove with Linda to a nearby location where they watched the fire burn houses close to theirs, fearing  that everything  had been lost.  Their house was damaged and a large grove of avocado trees burned down.