Norma Levario was surprised to find a letter in the mail from Southern California Edison informing her that power in her West Covina neighborhood would be shut off this Sunday, March 22.
The letter said electricity would be shut off from her neighborhood on Merced and Valinda avenues from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for “scheduled maintenance.”
In a statement, SCE said the utility “will be postponing all noncritical planned power outages while continuing with emergency outage work for public safety and wildfire mitigation.”
In this case, according to an SCE email forwarded to this newsgroup, the scheduled maintenance is to replace poles for “high fire compliance … to minimize any risk factor to the public and of course maintain SCE infrastructure.”
During a planned power outage, Levario said she usually leaves the house and finds something else to do. But in the midst of the new coronavirus outbreak, as a 67-year-old, she’s following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s urge to self-quarantine.
Health officials have recommended social distancing as a way to “flatten the curve” of the new coronavirus. They say staying inside and away from others can prevent the spread of COVID-19, the potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by the virus.
Following these recommendations, she can’t leave the house. And she’s worried the planned blackout could harm both herself and her neighbors.
Levario said she’s worried everything will be affected, from medical devices to internet access to refrigeration, especially after stockpiling food.
“They’re cutting off our lifelines,” Levario said in a phone interview. “A lot of us are seniors in this area.”
So, she called Mayor Tony Wu to see what he could do. Wu said the initial maintenance was scheduled to affect 400 homes, but after City Manager David Carmany spoke to SCE about residents’ concerns, now only 50 homes would be impacted. Levario’s is not one of them.
But Wu says that’s still too many.
“It is unacceptable because everyone is so worried,” he said in a phone interview. “If they shut down power, (residents) will suffer.”
In this time of crisis and quarantine, tensions are already high: “I don’t feel safe,” West Covina resident Yen Wee said in a phone interview. “I’m very panicked and nervous right now. Now, we have nowhere to go.”
Wu said he won’t accept the shutdown of power for even one home in West Covina.
“I don’t give a damn if they want to change the pole, wait two weeks,” he said