Santa Barbara County Removed from Power Shut Off List

The wind seems to be picking up near the Mission.

This is stupid and useless What they are saying is that they may, or may not, decide to cut power to some areas. Kinda hard to plan based on that, other than plan for an outage. My candles are ready, batteries staged, get it over with.

Thinking about this, I can't overlook 'Crisis Management 101.' SCE appears to just be laying down legal defenses, not serving customers. PG&E is doing the same. They are both screwing up. We'll see how it plays out, but the impression is of monopolies trying to steamroll regulation and the public interest.

Here’s a quote from the latest email from SB County Office of Emergency Management as of 21:40, 10/17/2019, “ If you live or work in or near this area, you should make preparations for a possible multiple day power outage lasting as long as 5-7 days.“ This is for parts of Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito, and affects over 6,000 people.

Getting windy on the Riviera now. Most locals who pay attention to the weather know winds often pick up after midnight this time of year - that's happening now .. the two stations on La Cumbre Peak reading 25 mph and 37 mph, SCE station east of Knapp's 35 mph (gust), San Marcos Pass 22 mph (gust), WCC 19 mph (gust), SCE station in Mission Creek 33 mph (gust), Botanic Gardens 27 mph (gust), Cold Spring Canyon 47 mph (gust), San Ysidro Creek 27 mph (gust). You get the picture ... the front country is getting all the wind now.

OMG! Friday is here and it's breezy! Pick one: a) Pitchforks and torches, march on the SCE substations. b) Candles, tea, confections, and mahjong. c) Camping lanterns, liquor, weed, and acoustic music. d) Generators, computers, internet, and gripes on edhat.

People have the right to complain not everyone has money for generators and some people do have to know weather or not they can go to work.

I would expect anyone living in high fire prone areas will be turned off is necessary. Remember the Thomas Fire was started by downed power lines. Better to have no electricity than have a repeat of that devastating fire. I think the deadly Northern CA fires were also caused by power lines. Direct Relief is preparing a location for people to recharge cell phones. I don't know where it is.

I totally understand that shutting off power for short periods of time may be necessary, that is not the problem, it's the lack of clarity and direction that SCE is offering. The maps are hard to read and confusing, the info is murky and may or may not be reliable. People would be ok if they could plan ahead and prepare for it, that's why we ALL should be prepared anyway, just in case. Be responsible, we live in a very high fire area, that's a given. SCE needs to up its game on communication and leadership in times like these for sure. Don't get mad, just get prepared, this is the reality of living here.

This hotel list for S.B. County is two years old, prepared for the Montecito debris flow evacuations, and phone numbers are included. Some of these hotels might have generators and air conditioning. https://santabarbaraca.com/content/uploads/2018/03/Storm-Evacuee-Hotel-Rate-List_Updated-2.28.18.pdf

Go to Direct Relief, near airport, off of Hollister-- from KEYT "Direct Relief is making their headquarters available for anyone who may be without power due to possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs. Anyone whose power has been shut off can charge their phones, computers, portable batteries, or any other devices at the charity's headquarters at 6100 Wallace Becknell Road in Goleta.
Direct Relief's building can maintain power even if the grid goes down. The facility has a microgrid built by Tesla which allows the facility to keep running and protect their inventory of cold-chain medicine.
The microgrid utilizes solar power, battery storage and diesel generators as backup. Tesla deployed similar grids during the Puerto Rico blackouts following Hurricane Maria."

It looks like all the excitement begins late afternoon today based on this new Fire Weather Message. Hopefully they can gain the upper hand on the fire near El Cap before then because we don't want to see western Goleta have any troubles. ================================================== Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA
941 AM PDT Fri Oct 18 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PDT
SUNDAY FOR SANTA BARBARA SOUTH COAST AND MOUNTAINS DUE TO GUSTY
SUNDOWNER WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES...

.Gusty sundowner winds will persist across portions of the Santa
Barbara south coast and mountains through Sunday evening, with
wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph common. The strongest winds with this
event will likely be focused in the hills above Montecito Hills
where gusts as high as 55 mph are expected tonight, increasing
to 60 to 70 mph on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Humidities
between 10 and 25 percent will be common during this event, with
poor recoveries at night in the foothills and windy canyons. The
driest conditions are expected on Saturday. The combination of
the gusty sundowner winds, low humidities, and dry fuels has
prompted this Red Flag Warning issuance.

Simple planning is better than whining. I don't need detailed info from SCE to plan. I only need to know if heavy wind is in the weather forecast. Park the car outside if you don't want to deal with opening the garage door manually. Use your earthquake kit for food/water/lights if necessary. Keep some ice in the freezer if needed for meds. Keep your cell phone charged and put it into low battery mode if power goes off. Cell phone charging batteries are cheap so buy one if you must. Do most of us really need a generator to get by w/o power for a few days? That would be a luxury for me.

People, please calm down and resist the animal instinct to blame and avoid responsibility. 1. The maps are the maps that SCE uses to show where their electricity goes and therefore are representative of the areas that will lose electricity if certain lines are shut down. The maps are readable if one takes a few moments to identify geographical points. 2. SCE and PGE and other utilities corrupted the Public Utilities Commission that was supposed to protect consumers. The politicians ignored this. So both of these institutions are at blame. 3. The losses from last year's disastrous fires resulted in large lawsuits that will bankrupt these companies if they are successful. It is understandable that the companies will now act to avoid such liability in the future so will be aggressive in shutting down systems that may be compromised by the weather. We, as consumers/customers and voters have the duty to make changes that will deal with this in the immediate future. That is not going to happen overnight. Meanwhile the idea that the problem is "fuel overload" and other excuses has to be ignored. Real answers will take time and money.

Here are two ways to know what days wind advisories are in place (scroll down to Santa Barbara) ....... https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/display_product.php?sid=LOX&pil=ZFP ....... https://www.weather.gov/lox/

Fire Weather Snooper, National Weather Service, details include wind speed, temp, fuel, elevation, relative humidity, time. https://www.weather.gov/lox/fwmV3?wfo=lox&net=1,2

Blame and whining are of zero value, only preparedness matters. Otherwise you'll be watching your 100 pack of organic, free range, vegan, gluten free, Texas-style BBQ kale burritos thaw with no way to keep them cold.

RED FLAG warning issued from this afternoon to Sunday. Be ready to have your power shut down no matter where you live. ------------- https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=CAZ039&warncounty=CAC083&firewxzone=CAZ239&local_place1=6%20Miles%20NW%20Isla%20Vista%20CA&product1=Red+Flag+Warning&lat=34.4826&lon=-119.9181#.Xan-2UZKiHs

Just received a SoCal Edison alert that my power might be shut off on Sunday. I live on the Westside, no where near any type of brush, hills, or land. This is dumb.

This is crazy...I do agree...we all need to be prepared...just confusing.
I am now in the flat lands of Noleta.
Used to be in the foothills..
Got 2 alerts last night, about 9:30...saying Turnpike, to More Mesa, might be shut off.
We have not had much wind...
Plus, Sheriffs Station, jail, gas stations, San Marcos, and Vons center, all here.
Just stressful...one minute...you are excluded on the map, then get a text.

YIKES SCE just cranked up the number of potentially affected customers substantially: ========================================================================== Santa Barbara County (24,148 customers)
◾Santa Barbara
◾Goleta
◾Carpinteria
◾Unincorporated areas including Orchams, El Encano Heights, Oak Park, Samarkand, North State, Cold Springs Canyon, Gaviota, Jalama Beach, Mission Canyon Map 1, Hwy 154, El Capitan Park, Montecito, Summerland, Mibek Rd., Sterrett Ave. and Foothill Ave =============================================================================Maybe they have been monitoring Edhat, and they don't like our comments.

Goleta just put out an announcement that the neighborhoods north of 101 between the Los Carneros and Winchester Canyon exits may have an outage after 6pm Sunday.

You are right, probably don't like our comments.
And where are the Mayors, of S.B. and Goleta?
Too busy with meet and greets to talk about this....

I'm happy to say I've prepared for something like this for a few years now. Guns, ammo, food, water, emergency power cells, first aid kits - I got it all. I can hang for a month without power no problem. But why SHOULD I? Why should the poor schmuck that lives down the street who ISN'T prepared have to put up with it either? I've lived in this town since '78 and there should be no reason for it.

"The County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to spend $825,000 more on outside legal experts to wage warfare with Southern California Edison, both for the power outages during high-risk fire weather and the Montecito debris flow." ( Source: Independent)

Don't want to be snarky...Just saw Montecito, will have boards up..in the Village..maps of possible outages...
Where is our leadership ????
Santa Barbara, Goleta ?
You pay your PIOS, hundreds of thousands of dollars...to do nothing..

I am in my seventies, and am a car giver for more than one disabled person. I must walk and take the bus to get anywhere. Will the buses be running? If I had a car, will the gas pumps be operating? When I need food, will the grocery stores be able to operate without power? I visit the pharmacy several times a week to pick up life-saving medicine for myself and the people for whom I care. Some of them require refrigeration (insulin). Will Pharmacies be able to dispense medicine necessary for life and health? We can't refill them before they are due, so two days' notice doesn't cut it. I am not even mentioning that it will be in the 80º's and 90º's for the next several days. Without a fan, living in an upstairs cube with little ventilation is not healthy for anyone of any age, let alone the elderly. Will people who require chemotherapy and dialysis be able to get it once the generators go out, if they are operable? If a pharmacy could fill prescriptions, could my doctor's office access patient records? If any of these answers are "NO", then Santa Barbara is as vulnerable as Puerto Rico was, with a similar outcome in store for us. Except that the hurricane was an actual thing, not caused by PG&E shirking its responsibility and not anticipating these events years ago, until they were bitten on the butt in the past few years. People are going to die from conditions due to not having electricity - mostly the elderly and the poor, so, meh, right? The actuaries have calculated that the wrongful death settlements will cost less than paying for an entire city burning down and all the agricultural liability they face, etc. - many millions vs many billions. That's what it's about. If this happens, Santa Barbara, of all places, becomes like a third world country for a period of time. This is also poorly planned, the maps are atrocious and useless. If your power goes off, it's gonna go off, and if you don't see yourself on the map, it's going off anyway. We, the consumer are currently powerless (pun intended) to do anything NOW, but we better get on this once the crisis has passed and come up with a better, more 21st Century plan. What's up with "smart meters" - are they just one way, or could they be adapted to selectively shut off, thus leaving critical business open to at least keep us fed, hydrated, and healthy, med-wise. This is the most arbitrary, stupid, and self-serving plan ever! I don't care who came up with this desperate scheme - PG&E, SCE, Gavin Newsmen , or the insurance and reinsurance companies - it needs to be rethought and another solution needs to be found.