Power Outages Spark Outrage
Business Owners Push and Prod Edison to Upgrade Crumbling Equipment
The fizzling patience of Santa Barbara business owners finally popped this week after another recent bout of downtown blackouts. Complaining that the outages have cost them dearly and that Southern California Edison isn’t doing enough to keep the lights on, a group of bar and restaurant owners is circulating a petition to prioritize equipment upgrades and repairs in their area.
The owners of Opal Restaurant & Bar and Olio E Limone Ristorante spearheaded the petition addressed to Edison president Pedro Pizarro. As of Tuesday night, 28 more people along State Street’s influential business core had signed on, including bankers, retailers, and hoteliers. Many left pointed comments. Edison representatives promised this week that the utility company is “committed to focus on the downtown as a 2015 priority,” but the commercial interests continue to push fast and hard for clear answers and concrete plans.
On October 2 and 3, back-to-back blackouts hit the city. Tony Bennett’s concert at the Granada Theater was cancelled, First Thursday events were scrapped, traffic snarled, alarms sounded, and those eating and drinking around State Street went home. One bar owner estimated he lost around $20,000 over the course of the weekend. “One or two more of those, and I’m out of business,” he said. That episode brought the issue to a head after months of grumbling over a perceived uptick in outages.
