Letters to the Editor: Edison needs to be held accountable for its ‘inept and unacceptable customer service’

To the editor: Thank you very much for the front-page article describing the continuing inept and unacceptable customer service from Southern California Edison (“Edison blacked out a record number of customers to stop fires. Now regulators have warned the utility,” Nov. 6).

In La Cañada Flintridge, we have now experienced ongoing, consistent and persistent power outages for the last several years. Two of these power outages have occurred in the last 30 days. That might sound like a lot, but that is what happens most every month in our neighborhood.

None of these outages have seemingly anything to do with the weather, the communications from Edison are virtually nonexistent and no advance notices are ever provided. These outages severely affect our residents and the local businesses. The costs over the years are incalculable.

Yet, senior executives, based on publicly filed proxy statements, continue to get significant annual compensation increases. Plus, the California Public Utilities Commission just granted Edison another large rate increase in the wake of the catastrophic Palisades and Eaton fires.

Why would the commission grant these rate increases to reward Edison for horrible service and a demonstrably abysmal safety record? Why wouldn’t the commission, which is supposedly there to protect rate-paying customers, require Edison to either terminate or significantly decrease dividends to shareholders? Should these executives continue to get large pay package increases while failing in safety and customer service?

Considering the public good and welfare, how is it that this company is not ever held truly accountable for its actions? The California Public Utilities Commission, the Edison board of directors and the company itself should really hang their collective heads in shame.

Alan Frank, La Cañada Flintridge

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To the editor: This is the most damning portion in staff writer Melody Peterson’s article about Southern California Edison’s public safety power shutoff program: “The executives blamed ‘below average rainfall and extended periods of high winds’ for increasing the risk that the company’s equipment could start a fire.”

This is an unequivocal admission that it is not an act of God that requires a shutoff, but rather Edison’s failure to fix what it admits is its own flawed product. A business continuing to offer a service proven to cause death and destruction should be prohibited from operating.

Bill Waxman, Simi Valley