Media Contact: David Song, (626) 302-2255
ROSEMEAD, Calif., June 18, 2015 — To ensure continued reliable electric service, Southern California Edison (SCE) has started infrastructure-improvement work in historic Uptown Whittier. The $1.1 million project began earlier this month and will continue through July.
The project includes a half-mile of new electrical cable along Painter Avenue between Helen Street and La Cuarta Street, six pole replacements near the intersection of Mar Vista Street and College Avenue and other major equipment upgrades throughout the Uptown Whittier community. There will also be new switching equipment installed, which will facilitate quicker service restoration. If a future outage occurs, these devices will also help to reroute power and isolate incidents to the smallest area possible.
Some residents, business owners and commuters may be intermittently impacted by lane closures and scheduled maintenance outages.
Eddie Marquez, Public Affairs region manager for Whittier, said SCE recognizes its responsibility to deliver safe and reliable electricity. He also mentioned other benefits of infrastructure improvement.
“As we modernize the grid, it will have the capability to handle the needs of customers for decades to come,” he said. “With rooftop solar panels, electric vehicles and energy storage technology, we will transform the grid into a power network that can help better integrate clean and renewable energy.
“Grid modernization is a key part of maintaining the city’s position as a hub of commerce and culture among the Gateway Cities.”
SCE is amid a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment plan to strengthen its territory-wide distribution grid, which serves nearly 14 million people. The work in Whittier is only one of many infrastructure-improvement projects that will take place across the company’s service area.
SCE will provide the latest information about outages at its website and on Twitter.
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 5 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
