Thousand Oaks to Foot the Bill for Restoring Power

The city of Thousand Oaks has agreed to pay up to $2,100 for a Southern California Edison repair crew to restore power to hundreds of residents who otherwise would have been left without electricity throughout the weekend.

“As far as I know, this is the first time something like this has happened” in a municipality served by Edison, said Richard Rosenblum, vice president of transmission and distribution for the utility.

Rosenblum and other company officials said the problem occurred because Edison had eliminated many of the repair workers who work overtime and on weekends.

Rosenblum, who oversees repair crews, said Edison is now able to handle only emergency calls on weekdays between 7:00 a.m and 3:00 p.m. If problems occur any other time, Edison will send one worker to examine the problem. If it is too big for that person to solve and is not a matter of life and death, repairs will not be made until the next normal business day--unless the customer pays.

The problem began about 5:30 p.m. Friday, when an underground transformer failed, knocking out power to about 3,700 customers in central Thousand Oaks.

A repairman was sent to the area and was able to make initial repairs by 8 p.m., which restored electricity for all but 315 residents of the Casa de Oaks condominium complex, Edison officials said. But when the repairman found there were fixes that could not be made without additional help, a new twist in California’s energy crisis was created: Pay Edison for the overtime for other workers or go without power until Monday.

Scott Mitnick, Thousand Oaks deputy city manager, said city officials received a call from Edison explaining the situation.

“There was no way we were going to let those residents go without power,” Mitnick said.

City officials then began three to four hours of talks with Edison officials to determine what the price would be to make the repairs, Mitnick said.

At about 9:30 p.m., City Manager MaryJane Lazz decided to pay Edison up to $2,100 from discretionary funds she can use without permission from the City Council. Lazz could not be reached for comment.

By 1 a.m. Saturday, the power was back on for all the residents.

“We find it offensive and highly distressing that Edison behaved the way it did,” Mitnick said. “It’s unconscionable that they would walk away from these households and leave them without power for the weekend.”

“We do not expect to do this again, and we will do what we can to get reimbursed by Edison,” he added.

Edison, the state’s second-largest private utility, is struggling to stay afloat as California attempts to sort out an energy crunch spawned by deregulation.

The company, which is facing bankruptcy, has cut its budget by $465 million and has laid off hundreds of workers, including about 1,200 contract repairmen who often worked on the weekends and after normal business hours.

“I know there is frustration on the customers’ part,” said Clarence Brown, Edison’s chief spokesman. “But it’s impossible now for us to maintain the same level of service as in the past.”

Most of the residents in the Case de Oaks complex never knew how close they came to being without power all weekend.

“I can deal with a few hours, but anything else would have been a big problem,” said resident Suzette Ayers. She said she had just spent $150 on groceries that would have gone bad.

“I think Thousand Oaks came through for us,” said Alana Johnson, who has lived in the complex for 15 years.

Edison’s new policy drew the ire of consumer activists.

“This is an indication of how ruthless Edison is pushing its agenda,” said Harry Snyder, of the nonprofit Consumers Union. “This incident in Thousands Oaks is just another piece of blackmail. . . . They are trying to demonstrate they are near bankruptcy.”

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Times staff writers Richard Winton and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.