Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of
Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of approximately 50,000 square miles. However, the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power,
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E),
Imperial Irrigation District, and some smaller municipal utilities serve substantial portions of the southern California territory. The northern part of the state is generally served by the
Pacific Gas & Electric Company of San Francisco. Other investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in California include SDG&E,
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States.
PacifiCorp has two business units:
# Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. ...
,
Bear Valley Electric, and
Liberty Utilities.
Southern California Edison (SCE) still owns all of its
electrical transmission facilities and equipment, but the
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
of California's
electricity market
In a broad sense, an electricity market is a system that facilitates the exchange of electricity-related goods and services. During more than a century of evolution of the electric power industry, the economics of the electricity markets had u ...
in the late 1990s forced the company to sell many of its power plants, though some were probably sold by choice. In California, SCE retained only its
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
plants, totaling about 1,200 MW, and its 75% share of the 2,150-MW
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a permanently closed nuclear power plant located south of San Clemente, California, on the Pacific coast, in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV. The plant was shut down in 2013 after re ...
, which has been shut down since January 2012; in June 2013 the company announced its intention to permanently close and decommission the nuclear plant. The utility lost all of its
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
-fired plants, which provided most of its electrical generation. The large, aging plants were bought by out-of-state companies such as
Mirant
GenOn Energy Holdings, formerly Mirant Corporation, was a subsidiary of GenOn Energy, and is now a part of NRG Energy.
The company was spun off from its former parent, Southern Company, on April 2, 2001. The company was merged into GenOn Energy o ...
and
Reliant Energy
Reliant Energy is an American energy company based in Houston, Texas.
History
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Reliant Energy, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, is one of the largest Texas electricity providers serving over 1.5 million Texans. Reliant ...
, which allegedly used them to
manipulate the California energy market.
Southern California Edison's power grid is linked to PG&E's by the
Path 26 wires that generally follow
Interstate 5 over
Tejon Pass
The Tejon Pass , previously known as ''Portezuelo de Cortes'', ''Portezuela de Castac'', and Fort Tejon Pass is a mountain pass between the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains and northeastern San Emigdio Mountains, linking Southern Calif ...
. The interconnection takes place at a large substation at
Buttonwillow
Buttonwillow is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California. Buttonwillow is west of Bakersfield, at an elevation of ). The population was 1,508 at the 2010 census, up from 1,266 ...
. PG&E's and
WAPA's
Path 15 and
Path 66, respectively, from Buttonwillow north eventually connect to
BPA
BPA may refer to:
Organizations
*BPA Worldwide, an organization that audits circulation figures for mass media
*Banca Privada d'Andorra
* Bangladesh Police Academy
*Blue Panorama Airlines, ICAO code
*Bonneville Power Administration, a U.S. powe ...
's grid in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
. There are several other interconnections with local and out-of-state utilities, such as
Path 46.
In addition, SCE operates a regulated gas and
water utility. SCE is the sole commercial provider of natural gas and fresh water service to
Santa Catalina Island, including the city of
Avalon, California
Avalon is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island, in the California Channel Islands, and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. The city is a resort community with the waterfront dominated by tourism-oriented businesses. T ...
. SCE operates the utilities under the names of Catalina Island Gas Company and Catalina Island Water Company.
History
The origins of the company lie with the grand scheme of business magnate
Henry E. Huntington
Henry Edwards Huntington (February 27, 1850 – May 23, 1927) was an American railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate ...
and hydraulic engineer
John S. Eastwood
John Samuel Eastwood (1857, in Minnesota – 1924, in California) was an American engineer who built the world's first reinforced concrete multiple-arch dam on bedrock foundation at Hume Lake, California, in 1908, and was one of California's ...
, developed around 1908, for a vast complex of reservoirs to be constructed in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
of central California. Huntington founded Pacific Light and Power, one of the roughly two dozen companies he controlled at the time, to execute what would eventually become one of the largest hydropower systems in the United States, the
Big Creek Hydroelectric Project
The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project is an extensive hydroelectric power scheme on the upper San Joaquin River system, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. The project is owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). The use and re ...
. Pacific Light and Power was one of the predecessor companies to SCE, along with Edison Electric, Mt. Whitney Power & Electric Co., California Electric Power Co., Southern California Power Co., and others.
Settlement for blackout
Southern California Edison agreed to pay a $650,000 settlement for the 2011 blackout with FERC and NERC.
Shooting
On December 16, 2011, a
shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
occurred when an employee of Southern California Edison opened fire at an office building in
Irwindale. The employee killed two co-workers and seriously wounded two others before committing suicide.
COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, 8,000 of the 13,000 employees were shifted to
remote work
Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
. The US
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...
has named utilities like SCE part of the 16 sectors designated “critical infrastructure sectors. The group of remote workers was set up so the company can operate if it faces workforce disruptions or shortages if employees become stricken or quarantined because of COVID-19.
The company also ceased power disconnections for non-payment.
Renewable energy
Southern California Edison allows its customer to obtain their electricity entirely from renewable sources by subscribing to a "green rate".
In 2006, Southern California Edison planned to secure 1,500 megawatts or more of power generated from new projects to be built in the
Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm area. The contract, which more than doubles SCE's wind energy portfolio, envisions more than of wind parks in the Tehachapi region, which is triple the size of any existing U.S. wind farm.
In March 2008, Southern California Edison announced a $875 million project to build a network of 250 megawatts of
photovoltaic
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...
solar power generation, making it the biggest solar cell project in the nation. The photovoltaic cells will cover of rooftops in southern California and will generate enough power to serve 162,000 homes.
In 2009, Southern California Edison entered into a contract with
Solar Millennium to purchase solar thermal power up to 726 MW. Southern California Edison also entered into a contract with
Stirling Energy Systems
Stirling Energy Systems was a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company which developed equipment for utility-scale renewable energy power plants and distributed electrical generating systems using parabolic dish and stirling engine technology, touted as ...
to buy electricity from a 500 megawatt, 4,600 acre (19 km
2), solar power plant which was due to open in 2009. The purchase was canceled in late 2010, as changes in technology reduced the cost of photovoltaic-based solar power to below that of solar Stirling generated power. This would have been the first commercial application of the
dish stirling system. A different technology from the more familiar solar panel, the dish concentrates solar energy by the use of reflective surfaces and by the use of the
Stirling heat engine to convert the heat into electricity.
In 2014, Southern California Edison installed the
Tehachapi Energy Storage Project
The Tehachapi Energy Storage Project (TSP) is a 8 MW/32 MWh lithium-ion battery-based grid energy storage system at the Monolith Substation of Southern California Edison (SCE) in Tehachapi, California, sufficient to power between 1,600 and 2,400 ...
, which is composed of more than 600,000
lithium-ion battery cells at Monolith Substation in
Tehachapi, California
Tehachapi (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") is a city in Kern County, California, United States, in the Tehachapi Mountains, at an elevation of , between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert. Tehachapi is east-southeas ...
in order to test storing power generated from an area that currently has 5,000 wind turbines.
In 2014 SCE had a
renewables mix of 23%. By 2016, 28.2% of SCE's power sources were renewable.
Natural gas and energy storage
In 2017, the company opened two new hybrid electric gas turbine (EGT) units called peaker plants, that combine gas turbines and storage batteries at the same site. Each plant delivers around 50-megawatts; the batteries can provide 10-megawatts and four megawatt-hours of power. Both the turbines and the batteries are designed and manufactured by
General Electric’s Power Division.
The plant runs the battery first in a series of short bursts, saving gas usage for longer power demand. The combination of a 30-minute duration battery improves the environmental impact of the gas turbine. The SCE setup (the first of its kind) cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60%, reduced annual water usage by 2 million gallons and lowered the number of gas starts by 50%.
Electric vehicles
Southern California Edison has a number of resources and a rate designed specifically for electric vehicle users.
As of July 2018, Southern California Edison plans to add thousands of new charging stations for
passenger electric vehicles (EV). This addition is a component of the company's "Charge Ready" program, a pilot program with the aim of increasing the availability of charging ports for EVs. Since 2016, Southern California Edison has installed 1,000 charging stations throughout their Southern and Central California service area.
The company also runs a rebate program for electric vehicle purchases. Southern California Edison gives people in its service area who purchase a new or used, or lease, an electric vehicle a $450 rebate. The program will run until 2020.
Energy research and policy
Southern California Edison has a long history of research in the energy arena. Often this includes working with other companies and government entities. One example is the SOLARII feasibility generator, which was a solar-powered energy plant that could produce electricity 24 hours a day. This was done by heating molten salts that would hold the heat during the day and would be used to generate power at night.
Dr. John Jurewitz served as Director of Regulatory Policy for Southern California Edison for 15 years until his retirement in July 2007. His major areas of research are in oil, gas, and electricity policy and
greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...
regulation. He has testified and participated in government-sponsored proceedings addressing electric industry restructuring and
energy policy
Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contr ...
at the state, federal, and international levels.
In November, 2014, SCE announced a partnership with
Ice Energy to provide more efficient energy storage by freezing water at night when electricity is cheaper. (Ice Energy filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...
in December 2019.)
Labor practice controversy
In April 2015, Southern California Edison laid off about 400 IT employees, with an additional 100 IT workers leaving voluntarily. Meanwhile, the utility company hired immigrants from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
through
Infosys
Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is ...
, based in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, and
Tata Consultancy Services in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
, which are among the largest users of
H-1B visas.
About 70% of the work to be done by Tata and Infosys will be completed offshore, according to SCE. The company claimed it had to lay off US-based employees to stay competitive. The layoffs were questioned by members of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and po ...
. SCE was subsequently investigated by the US Department of Labor for potential H1-B visa abuse.
In October, Department of Labor concluded Infosys did not abuse the H1-B program in the dealings with SCE, while Tata's case remained open.
See also
*
Energy use in California
*
Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
*
Wind power in California
Wind power in California had initiative and early development during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. In ...
*
List of articles associated with nuclear issues in California
References
External links
Southern California Edison websiteSCE Launches 250-MW Solar ProjectSouthern California Edison’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Technical Centerin
Pomona, California
Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyt ...
{{Electric Utilities in CA
Energy in California
Electric power companies of the United States
Electric power transmission system operators in the United States
Hydroelectric power companies of the United States
Nuclear power companies of the United States
Southern California
Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
Rosemead, California
Energy companies established in 1908
1908 establishments in California
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Superfund sites in California
American companies established in 1908