SCE management abandoned ship

Weeks back, the wind put most of us in the cold and dark. For many of us, the Edison response came up short. For me, it was the second frustrating experience within a few months with communications and Edison’s attitude toward protecting a customer’s life and property.

My experience before the winds was due to squirrels munching on Edison’s aluminum wires, causing voltage to our house to fluctuate wildly and causing our lights to go bright and dim. Edison’s electricians came out and put an aluminum ladder against our one-story roof. I watched as the technician started to climb. Then, zap! We saw a bolt of electricity jump from an outside light socket. A few minutes later my wife told me something smelled funny in the house. I found $500 worth of damage to a phone and computer equipment, for which Edison management blamed the squirrels. I am still trying to collect damages, but when I call, I get a phone mail answer and seldom a callback.

Edison’s response to our downed transformer during the winds was nothing short of mystifying. A fallen tree snapped the pole supporting a neighborhood transformer, sending it crashing to the ground, ripping the electrical wires from the mast on our house. I called Edison immediately and received their computerized response recommending I call 911. I did. Within minutes, the fire department arrived and reported the emergency to Edison. Five days later, an Edison representative came to inspect the damage, checked the voltage on the downed wires, and left. On the seventh day we had electricity.

Through all these days, I phoned, as did my neighbors, reporting the problem. Edison’s response as to when we would get service was just a wild guess. Old downed electrical cables still lay over the ground and fence in our back yards. What was Edison management doing? Like another recent in-the-news captain, they abandoned ship.

Dennis Lottman

La Cañada Flintridge