Neighbor Response

Jason, thank you for sending your letter on when the power problem first began. We had lost track of when the generators were delivered and when the problem actually began. It is my opinion that the power company is taking to long to fix the problem. We are beginning to feel that the power company is unitizing diesel generators to buy time Vs implementing a permanent solution. Here are our thoughts and concerns. You are welcome to post it on your blog.

I am beginning to feel like we are living in a third world country. How long should it take a fully staffed utility company to fix an electrical problem and or complete an upgrade? Should the utility company have notified its customers that power would be cut off in advance, if the procedure was pre-scheduled? What every happened to pre-planning or strategic planning? Does the utility company have a plan if so what is it?
I am quite surprised that we have not heard one word from the utility company and or from the City of Rancho Palos Verdes on this issue. We have had to call the utility company on several occasions to obtain what little bits and pieces of information that we currently have. None in which came voluntary. We have now have loud noisily diesel generators parked outside our homes since August 9 th. When the power outage first occurred our family went (3) days without power. I have experienced food spoilage because the power company delayed in the delivery of the power generators. When they were delivered I wondered why were they not delivered any sooner. Like most of you, we were happy to see the generators delivered. It meant we had power again. Now the questions is how long will the generators have to stay? I no longer see anyone working on the problem. Perhaps, the upgrade is in a location outside our city yet, no one has contact us to tell us what is going on.
Perhaps, because we have generator power we have not thought of the risks that diesel generators the size in which sit outside our homes may have. For those of you that have a diesel generator parked just outside your front door have you wondered just how safe a fueled generator is. These generators are parked on our already winding narrow street. The problem is compounded by the fact that our city does not have street lights? I live on Via Lorado, most residents that live on the block are aware that there are times when we have to yield to on coming traffic zooming down the hill in order to safely pass one another other. This past month we had two accidents on Via Lorado. One vehicle traveling up hill ran right into a parked car. The sound of the impact hitting the parked car was tremendous. The second accident occurred about a week later when a vehicle traveling down hill hit the curb right at the exact spot where the utility company parked one of its generators. My concern is, visitors, sub-contractors, and large delivery trucks are complexly unaware of these safety conditions. Then when I see the utility company park (7) fueled generators on our streets I wonder if they ever considered the fact that we have no street lights, narrow streets, and steep hills. Does anyone truly believe that an orange safety cone will stop a moving vehicle from running right into one of these generators? Does anyone know what would happen if this occurs?
As a resident on Via Lorado I witness cars speeding down the hill all the time. One small mistake has the potential of a fairly large problem for all of us. Thus, these generators although helpful to all of us are a safety hazard and should only be used as a temporary measure. I ask everyone to consider how long is temporary? The longer these generators stay parked on our public streets the higher the risk. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes should be concern that the power company is operating un-timely.
Concern residents should contact the City of Rancho Palos Verdes to voice their concerns. Unlike small companies, the utility company has a very large workforce that could be called upon to resolve this issue timely. We have now had generators in our neighborhood for 10-day's or 240 man hours. Does that sound like temporary to you?
Cecilia Mauricio