Guy Wires Slated for Study as Possible
Factor in Malibu Wildfire Starts
• SCE Supports Call for New Look at
Equipment Regulations that Would Be Applicable Statewide
The Public Utilities Commission, the state
agency that regulates utility companies, is investigating the
possibility that guy wires, the cables that connect the wood
power poles that dot the landscape throughout the state, can
spark brush fires in strong wind conditions.
Electrical wiring experts have raised the
issue of guy wire culpability in the context of the
multi-millions of dollars in insurance settlements being
paid in the wake of the rush of Southern California
conflagrations in late 2007, including Malibu’s
Canyon Fire, whose starting point was reportedly a downed
pole.
Power companies across the nation use
similar cabling systems, but some of these firms are also
asking for technical review of current regulations in the face
of mounting liability concerns and the realization that
wildfire is now a year-round phenomenon in many parts of the
country, including Malibu and the rest of Southern
California.
Although power lines failed during last
October’s hurricane-force winds in Malibu, there has not
been any formal determination that the guy-wire systems were
the weak point.
State investigators have still not
completed their study of the cause of the Canyon Fire in
Malibu, but firefighters are on record as stating that the fire
spread from a Southern California Edison power pole that fell
in the 75-mph winds.
Residents near the downed line,
including longtime local Ed Meyer, indicated that
pole had been leaning over, and had complained to regulators
before the fire that the wires might be insufficient.
State officials have tentatively indicated
that preliminary studies by insurance industry experts may lead
to some rule changes.
The PUC’s Consumer Protection and
Safety Division is expected to initiate action to
formalize further study and consider formal recommendations for
guy-wire requirements.
Gil Alexander, a spokesperson at
SCE’s corporate offices, told the Malibu Surfside News
this week that the company has not been contacted by the PUC on
this issue yet.
He said the company maintains that
“our guy wires are installed and maintained in full
compliance with G.O. 95 guidelines,” the state
regulations for utilities.
However, Alexander added that SCE
“supports” the call made late last year by the San
Diego Gas and Electric Company—hardest hit by
wildfires—for a review of these guidelines and what in
utility jargon is called “a PUC Order Instituting a
Rulemaking” that could result in an overhaul of rules on
guy wires. The commission has not yet responded to this call
for action.
