Heat wave causes local blackouts

By John Loesing Acorn Staff Writer

The heat wave that hit Southern California last week caused several long power outages in Conejo Valley-Las Virgenes, some for more than 24 hours, officials said.

According to Southern California Edison, heavy demand during the heat wave knocked out dozens of transformers and left about 18,000 customers without electricity in pockets from Agoura Hills to Thousand Oaks.

Simi Valley also experienced the blackouts.

"This wasn’t an issue of statewide capacity. It was more an issue of local demand on our system that caused multiple transformer failures," said Rudy Gonzalez, Edison regional manager.

The high heat and the fact that many residents were home for the holiday, using air conditioning and other appliances, led to the outages, Gonzalez said.

The results were unavoidable.

"It would have taken a lot more than just conservation to avoid some of the equipment failures we experienced," Gonzalez said. "We hadn’t experienced something like this in several years that I can recall."

The difficulty began on Mon., Sept. 2, Labor Day, and continued the next day. The transformer problems caused about 100 separate power failures, Gonzalez said.

Edison crews arrived on the scene from as far away as Santa Barbara to help with the repairs.

"We had the equipment, but just not enough manpower to get out and respond as quickly as customers would like," Gonzalez said.

John Lamacchia, a resident of Agoura Hills, spent a full evening without power.

"It was about five in the afternoon, and then about three the next morning it kicked in," he said.

Lamacchia was luckier than most. He owns a generator, which provided power to everything in his home, except his air conditioner.

An unrelated power outage caused by bad cable occurred Wed., Sept.4 along Kanan Road in Agoura Hills. Using automated switching capability, Edison said it was able to restore power to the homes between Fountainwood and Eagleton in less than an hour.

During heat waves, residents are advised to avoid using heavy appliances such as washers and dryers from noon until 8 p.m., the peak period for electricity usage.

Edison so far this summer hasn’t been forced into any rolling blackouts, officials said, and statewide electricity generating capacity appears to be holding steady.