December 17, 2006
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Dec. 17, 2006—Southern California Edison (SCE) and three of its contractors are dispatching repair crews and support personnel to Washington state this weekend to assist Puget Sound Energy (PSE) restore power after a devastating storm knocked out service to more than 1.1 million homes and businesses in the greater Seattle area.
“Utilities have a proud tradition of mutual assistance—coming to each other’s aid during power emergencies,” said SCE senior vice president of transmission and distribution Ron Litzinger. “This gives SCE an opportunity to return the favor of crews sent to our service area from the Pacific Northwest to help us restore service during the heat storm this past July.”
Approximately 150 personnel and 100 vehicles and pieces of equipment are traveling to the Pacific Northwest to help repair damage to the area’s transmission and distribution systems. SCE has sent 60 employees, including line crews and support personnel. Additionally, several SCE contractors have sent crews, including employees of PAR, Pouk & Steinle, and Asplundh. Most of the workers will arrive in Kent, Wash. Sunday evening, in time to join PSE crews Monday morning
SCE’s crews will replace or repair poles, towers, crossarms, transformers, and other components of PSE’s electrical infrastructure. So that no single region SCE serves will be left short of staff, te employees chosen for the assistance effort came from across SCE’s entire 50,000-square-mile service area.
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An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.7 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.
