Thomas Fire Leads to Santa Barbara Area Outage

ROSEMEAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Thomas wildfire in Ventura County, California has interrupted the
transmission lines for the Santa Barbara area, leaving more than 85,000
customers without electric power. The Santa Barbara area
transmission emergency is not affecting other parts of SCE’s
transmission system.

As soon as the area is safe for restoration, SCE crews will assess the
damage and redirect power to affected customers. However, given the
unpredictability of the fire, SCE is asking customers currently without
electricity to prepare for the possibility of an extended power outage.

The utility is coordinating its emergency efforts with state, county and
local officials. Medical Baseline, Critical Care and Essential Use
customers have been alerted.

SCE reminds customers experiencing a service interruption in the Santa
Barbara area that they do not need to call SCE to report a power outage.
SCE will provide the latest information on the restoration of electrical
service in the Santa Barbara area on its website
and via Twitter
and Facebook.
Customers may also download the SCE outages app on their smartphones.

SCE is requesting customers without power to turn off the lights in any
unoccupied rooms, except for a single lightbulb, which will be the
signal that power has been restored. Turning off appliances helps ensure
against overloading, which could delay the restoration of service.

When service is restored, SCE is requesting residential and commercial
customers to significantly reduce power consumption in order to provide
maximum coverage to the entire Santa Barbara area.

During this emergency, SCE reminds its customers of the following safety
tips:

• Use extreme caution when driving, especially at intersections where
  traffic signals may not be working. Approach those intersections as
  four-way stops.
• Do not use candles
  for lighting since they pose a significant fire hazard. Use
  flashlights instead.
• If you see a downed line or dangling wire — even if it appears not to
  be live — don’t touch or approach it and call 911 immediately.
• Do not use outdoor cooking equipment indoors. Such equipment can emit
  carbon monoxide and other toxic gases.
• If you use a generator, place it outdoors and do not connect it to
  your household circuits. That creates “backfeed,” which is dangerous
  to repair crews. Instead, plug individual appliances directly into the
  generator using a heavy-duty extension cord.

About Southern California Edison

An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison
is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population
of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer accounts in a
50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern
California.

Contacts

Southern California Edison
Media
Contact:
Brian Leventhal, 202-997-5747