Southern California Edison has more power outages in Malibu than anywhere else.   That story coming up … but first …

Crane Topples At MLB Owner’s Controversial House On Cliff Above Broad Beach

A construction crane toppled over yesterday as it was being used to install a heavy metal tube into a cliffside below Broad Beach Road.

Inside … the crane operator was trapped inside a protective metal cage.

Rescue workers were able to free him … he was treated for an injured leg … and was flown out by helicopter from Zuma Beach.

The crane fell over at about 10:25 Wednesday morning. 

This was on the western end of Broad Beach Road.

A form to form a caisson was being inserted into a shaft that had been dug out by a drilling rig.

As the crane maneuvered the heavy vertical metal form into the pit … it toppled over towards the beach … far below. 

The crane went over on its side and slightly down the hill.

The house is already controversial.

It’s owner has been accused by the California Coastal Commission … and by its neighbors … of stealing sand from the beach below … to build up his lot 

The Coastal Commission has sent him a notice of violation related to the taking of sand from Broad Beach.

The house is owned by Mark Attanasio, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers professional baseball team.

Sheriff’s deputies closed Broad Beach Road for much of the day … as workplace safety investigators were sent out from Los Angeles.

New Stats Prove What Malibu Residents Know:  Some Customers Blacked Out 7,571 Minutes In ’24

Malibu residents know that the electrical power service from Southern California Edison is awful.

Now … we know just how bad it is. 

The power company has quietly released tts annual reliability report for 2024.

And buried deep in the Internet are the power reliability statistics for Malibu.

The average customer in SCE service territory lost power for 158 minutes .. all totaled up over the year, 

Keep that average in mind … 158 minutes,

The Malibu average is an astounding 47 hundred 83 minutes …. That’s 29 times the system average.

Some parts of Malibu are affected far worse than the average.

The Serra circuit … which is basically the Civic Center area … lost power for a 7,571 minutes that year.

That is 47 times the systemwide average.

The Maguire Circuit … upper Winding Way …  7,113 minutes of blackouts, which is 44 percent of the SCE systemwide average.

The Cuthbert Circuit … Paradise Cove and Point Dume?

Cuthbert had 6,262 minutes of total blackouts … that is 39 times more than the systemwide average.

About 3/4 of those blackouts were caused by SCE turning off the power on purpose …so-called PSPS intentional blackouts when high winds are forecast.

There have been at least five substantial power outages in.Malibu in the past three months. 

None of those were intentional … and they are expected to make this year’s Reliability Report even worse.

The SCE report shows that the number of blackout minutes is bad and getting worse … for the last three years the trend has been up and up and up.

The report notes that only 77 percent of the Malibu outage minutes were intentional blackouts.  

The record shows that the SCE level of service deteriorated substantially over the last three years, and it appears to be plunging further this year.

Malibu has had a new strong pop power outages this summer … none of them caused by wind … all of them in either heavy fog or light rain.

This month’s series of power outages was blamed by the company … in an email to city council members … as “blown overhead equipment.”

That could mean anything … and overhead power equipment is not supposed to blow at a rate like this.

SCE has a track record of allowing coastal grime to build up on its exposed wiring … which tends to short out when light moisture makes the accumulated grime conduct electricity across insulators.

SCE has been criticized for failing to wash its insulators in coastal areas … or take other steps to adequately prevent what they call tracking. 

Tracking can also trick overhead sensing equipment into thinking that a power lines failed …. 

And SCE has been installing new overhead fault sensors in very high fire risk areas.

These fault sensors are turned up to what SCE calls fast curve settings … designed to trigger full circuit outages at hair trigger levels. 

In an email to the city … SCE says “these settings, while necessary, have contributed to longer and more widespread outages.

“SCE crews must patrol the entire circuit before re-energizing, which extends restoration time.”

City council member Haylynn Conrad has taken these numbers gathered by KBUU … and asked SCE to explain.

And Malibu mayor Marianne Riggins has blasted SCE in an email to company leadership.

Riggins writes … 

“Are we to expect that when it rains for the first time after dry spell we can expect to have multiple power outages? 

“I seem to recall that SCE used to routinely ‘wash’ the transformers and lines in our area to ensure that there wasn’t dust or dirt accumulation.

“Is that maintenance no longer completed?

Marianne Riggins … in an email voiced by a KBUU reporter.

She goes on.

“Are you telling me in this day and age that there aren’t modern ways to test lines prior to reenergizing them? 

“SCE is not taking responsibility for the domino effect that power outages are having on the entire community.”

Riggins points out the effect that the outages are having on families … schools … businesses … people with medical needs … and on communications. 

It is long past time that SCE learn to be a problem solver and take responsibility for the many others that are harmed by these short sighted policies.

SCE has not responded to the new Malibu comments.

The power company has set itself up for a hornets nest of unhappy people.

Te state requires the power company to have community meetings to help people prepare for th scheduled outages that it plans to inflict on the area.

These are dog and pony shows designed to tell cutters how to prepare for outages … get support during outages … and enhance emergency preparedness.

Community activists are planning to attend this Tuesday evening’s SCE meeting … at Malibu City Hall … from 6 to 8.

SCE To Overfly Malibu To Look For Wire Dangers

SCE has just announced plans to fly helicopters and drones over parts of Malibu in the next few days. 

They use infrared cameras and other equipment to look for possible trouble spots in the overhead lines. 

Three companies have been hired by Edison to do the work.

Agoura Road To Be Buried, and Closures This Week, Road Closed Next Month

Agoura Road is about to get buried.

Effective today … the old section of the Ventura Highway will have only one lane available for traffic in both directions. 

Utilities are being moved prior to the construction of an artificial tunnel .. at the bottom of a canyon that will be filled in with dirt. 

The dirt will connect to the Walllis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing … the bridge for mountain lions and other critters to safely cross back and forth at the northern gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains.

Agioura Road will be closed to all traffic next month … through next June. 

The detour is via U.S. 101. Relocated bus stops available.

Massive Tide Of Bananas To Be Celebrated At Hueneme

Here’s a riddle.

What’s yellow … weighs 30 billion pounds … and gets unloaded up the coast from Malibu?

Bananas. 

An astounding 30 million boxes of bananas are unloaded every year at the Port of Hueneme … 

At 100 pounds per box … that’s 30 million pounds of bananas unloaded at Port Hueneme every year.

The little-known deepwater cargo harbor 20 miles up the coast from Trancas.

Most people don’t know the Port of Hueneme is up there.

It’s closed to the public … next to a top secret Navy base … and sort of off the beaten path.

Here’s your big chance to see Port Hueneme. 

The Port is holding its 12th annual Banana Festival on Saturday. 

The free day-long event will feature entertainment, activities for kids, port tours, and of course, all kinds of banana-related foods.

The Port of Hueneme Banana Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

To get there … take PCH up the coast to … wait for it … Hueneme Road.   

Turn left. 

Look for the bananas.

Tropical Lightning Dances Past Malibu, May Waltz Back Into Picture

For the second time in a week … a line of thunderstorms rolled up from Mexico but just missed Malibu.

From Catalina Island to Ventura County to the west and north … a line of lightning storms moved thru overnight and this morning. 

This line has been amazing electrical – producing thousands of lightning flashes just to the west of Malibu since last evening. 

Now here’s the weird thing.

This little blast of subtropical storminess is going to move up the California coast today … but then … make a U-turn.

That makes the weather forecasters twitchy. 

There is a chance of thunderstorms for Friday,  

But nothing for sure …