Media Contact: Lauren Bartlett, (626) 302-2255
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Nov. 1, 2012 — Southern California Edison’s (SCE) equipment is being flown to the New York area today to assist Consolidated Edison Company of New York, known as Con Edison, in repairing damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.
The U.S. Air Force is helping to transport 70-80 SCE vehicles from March Air Force Base in Riverside County. It is estimated it will take about six C-5 and about eight C-17 transport cargo aircraft to transport equipment back to New York.
President Barack Obama requested SCE’s assistance and authorized the airlift. Plans originally called for a ground convoy, which would have taken four days.
About 120 SCE personnel were scheduled to leave separately this afternoon on a chartered plane. The group includes 16 crews of four people, eight two-man troublemen crews and other support personnel.
SCE is responding to a request for mutual aid from Con Edison under the auspices of the Edison Electric Institute, an association of U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Costs for the work will be paid for by Con Edison under the terms of a mutual assistance agreement.
In determining how many people to send, SCE assessed its staffing capacity to ensure sufficient personnel remained to support its own system.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
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