Electric and Communication Facilities Safety
The Electric Safety and Reliability Branch (ESRB) enforces General Orders (GO) 95, 128, 165, 166, and 174for overhead and underground electric and communications facilities. ESRB has jurisdiction over the safety of overhead and underground electric and communications line construction of all investor-owned utilities, co-ops, and municipalities.
Programs
Publications and Presentations
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SED Report on Crown Castle Compliance with D.13-09-026
As a result of the Malibu Fire that occurred on October 21, 2007, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Investigation (OII) into whether the owners and operator of the poles that failed in Malibu violated Commission rules. On February 21, 2013, SED and Crown Castle filed a joint motion for approval of a settlement agreement. The settlement agreement was conditionally approved by Commission Decision 13-09-026 on September 24, 2013, and required Crown Castle to perform specific work that was outlined in the Decision.
Decision 13-09-026 also required SED to prepare a report, after Crown Castle’s submission of its final bi-monthly report, that summarizes results of the safety audit, identifies the Santa Ana wind loads that Crown Castle used to assess its poles and pole attachments in Malibu Canyon, and addresses Crown Castle’s remediation actions.
On October 21, 2007, strong Santa Ana winds caused utility poles located next to Malibu Canyon Road to fail and cause a fire (the Malibu Canyon Fire) that burned 3,836 acres, destroyed 14 structures and 36 vehicles, and damaged 19 other structures costing $14,528,300. The Commission opened an Order Instituting Investigating (OII) in response to the fire and eventually settled with all the parties. There were three settlement agreements involving NextG (now Crown Castle), the telecommunication companies (AT&T, Verizon and Spring, referred to here as “telcos”) and SCE.
The SCE settlement was adopted by Commission Decision 13-09-028 on September 19, 2013. As part of the Decision, SCE was ordered to assess poles in Malibu and repair and/or replace poles found out of compliance. SCE was also ordered to submit, starting August 31, 2014, bi-monthly reports regarding the status of the pole assessment and remediation, for as long as SED deems necessary and until all the money is used. The Decision ordered SED to prepare a final report within 6 months after the last SCE bi-monthly report is submitted. SED has reviewed SCE’s bi-monthly reports, has been communicating and meeting with SCE staff regarding the status of the work, and issued the subject compliance report (the last bi-monthly report submitted by SCE is attached to SED’s report) in December 2022.