STILL IN THE DARK

When the lights went out in the most rural parts of Mono and Inyo Counties again and again (and again) this summer, it was more than just an inconvenience.

“It makes it unlivable,” one resident said bluntly.

Southern California Edison (SCE) officials came to the Crowley Community Center Tuesday evening to explain why Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) continue across the region and what the utility is doing to reduce them. But much of the four-hour session, which ran past its scheduled end and forced locals to miss the Dodgers game, became a stage for rural residents to voice their frustration with repeated blackouts.

“If we can put a rover on Mars and send back data telling us what the chemicals are and whether there’s life there, I think maybe we can figure out what’s going on between poles,” one resident complained.

Homes on the Birchim circuit—a 62-mile line serving Paradise Valley, Swall Meadows, Round Valley, West Bishop, and Mustang Mesa—have been hit especially hard, experiencing frequent, long-lasting shutoffs and minimal backup support. SCE itself admitted the Birchim circuit is one of its worst-performing.

These shutoffs have real consequences: spoiled food, lost communications, and interrupted basic needs like water. 

“Every new house on Mustang Mesa has to have an engineered septic system, which means your septic tank has a well pump in it which requires electricity,” one resident said. “Twenty-three hours without electricity, and you have a house of five or six people using the water system that can’t be pumped.”

He continued: “There’s an old expression about ‘fertilizer’ rolling downhill. Well, from Mustang Mesa, pretty much everything’s downhill.”

SCE insists the shutoffs are necessary to prevent wildfires sparked by electrical equipment. 

Nearly all of Mono and Inyo Counties are classified as High Fire Risk Areas, meaning a single downed line could ignite a catastrophic blaze. Decisions are made based on weather across entire circuits, so wind in one distant community, or open land, can trigger outages elsewhere.

Residents, including those with firefighting and fire mitigation experience, argued that routine seasonal winds shouldn’t trigger repeated PSPS events. 

“There are seasons when the wind just picks up in the afternoon. It’s not a storm, it’s just regular weather here. And yet we’re getting PSPS notices back-to-back for days on end,” one complained. 

Another joked the winds in Rovana were so predictable he sometimes called it “Blow-vana.”

SCE didn’t give an inch. 

“Everything we’ve talked about here is trying to harden your grid and come up with solutions,” said Matthew Paruolo, SCE’s Government Relations Manager. “The solution we’re not looking at is saying, ‘It’s fine. It’s always like this. Let’s keep the power on.’”

This is also why it takes a long time to get the power back on after a shutoff, even once winds have quelled. 

“We need to visually inspect every inch and mile of that line because it does us no good to de-enerize that circuit, to have vegetation or a tree toppled on it,” Paruolo said.

He also denied constituents’ insinuation that SCE doesn’t have enough manpower or preparation to address the shutdowns, and blamed instead the rural nature of the region, demanding long truck trips or helicopter use.

Since 2018, SCE has been installing “covered conductors,” power lines wrapped in protective insulation designed to reduce fire risk. 

About 195 miles have been completed in Mono and Inyo Counties, more than half of the total planned by 2027. Officials are also adding weather stations and breaking up long lines into smaller “segments” so fewer customers are affected during shutoffs. 

Officials encouraged residents to update their contact information for alerts, invest in backup batteries, and prepare for long outages. Programs like the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) provide rebates for home energy storage.

SCE posts post-event reports to the California Public Utilities Commission website ten days after every PSPS event. These reports detail which circuits were affected, reasons for shutoffs, and any missed notifications. Residents can access this information to better understand SCE’s decision-making and prepare for future events.

For residents of the Birchim circuit, full upgrades won’t be completed until 2026 or later. Until then, they can expect more shutoffs.