Southern California Edison

Big Brother is now watching us. Workers from Corix Utilities, under contract to Southern California Edison, just installed what Edison calls a smart meter at our house under Edison?s new SmartConnect program. We got a mailer several weeks ago that told us the smart meter was coming, but it didn?t say when. Monday, the doorbell rang, and before I could get to the door, our power was out. They need to disconnect the power for a minute while they remove the old meter and install the new one. Fortunately, we have power backups on both computers, so we didn?

Huntington Beach is among several cities calling on Southern California Edison to bring down the cost of street light maintenance and open its maintenance records to the public. The Coalition for Affordable Street Lights, which includes Torrance, Huntington Beach, Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland and Yorba Linda, has complained to the California Public Utilities Commission. "The coalition was formed after we were unsuccessful in talking with Edison," said Aaron Klemm, Huntington Beach energy project manager.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Ocean View High boys’ basketball team has already won CIF. Now, the Seahawks have taken their first step on the road to an even bigger prize. Ocean View beat Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, 67-50, at home on Tuesday night in the opening round of the CIF State Division III Southern California regional. Senior Mason Jones led the charge with 13 points, followed by sophomore Billy Keller with 12. Juniors Avery Johnson and Ryan Okwudibonye scored 10 each.

MetroPCS has asked Huntington Beach for permission to install a wireless communication facility on Ravenwood Lane, north of Warwick Drive and west of the Santa Ana River, according to a city staff report. If approved, the company will install its facility at the already existing Southern California Edison transmission tower, said Associate Planner Rosemary Medel. The facility will consist of six panel antennas that will be installed on Edison's tower, the staff report said. The wireless communication facility will also include a ground facility directly underneath Edison's power tower.

Golden West College was awarded a $100,000 grant to help students go green. The money will be used to create a $1,000 annual scholarship for students studying for environmentally friendly jobs. Golden West was one of 10 community colleges in the state awarded a grant from Southern California Edison’s Green Jobs Education Initiative. The college was expected to be presented with a check Wednesday evening to the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees meeting.

Nearly 2,000 homes and businesses lost power Monday after a pickup truck struck a Southern California Edison power pole. Power went out for 1,725 Edison customers just before 5 a.m after a motorist ran into the power pole, a light pole and a fire hydrant, police said. Marc Africano, 35, from Huntington Beach, was driving his Toyota Tundra north on Brookhurst Street when he ran the truck off the road and hit a fire hydrant, telephone pole and concrete light pole.

Coastline Community College raised more than $170,000 for students at its annual awards event in May. The 2010 Visionary of the Year Awards raised $178,562 for Coastline Community College, based in Fountain Valley, on May 2. The college honored four community leaders who have supported education through their work. People honored were Ding-Jo Currie, Coast Community College District chancellor; Daniel Callahan, from the law firm Callahan & Blaine; Jo Ellen Chatham, Southern California Edison's director of Public Affairs and a KOCE Foundation board member; and Adnan Khan, of the Council of Pakistan American Affairs.

About 5,000 people attended the Fountain Valley 2011 Tree Lighting on Saturday at the city's Recreation Center and Sports Park, where Santa made an appearance with Mrs. Claus, according to a news release issued by the city. The four-hour event was a full-on night of entertainment that included a fireworks show and snow. There were carnival-style games, crafts, letters to Santa, a storybook walk-through and pictures with Santa, among other highlights. The event was sponsored by the Fountain Valley Community Foundation, Rainbow Environmental Services, Care Ambulance Service, Southern California Edison and Independence Bank.

DOWNTOWN PARKING The city approved the latest reading of the Downtown Parking Master Plan, an annual report on parking issues along Main Street. The report reviews the city's shared parking concept, which allows one parking space to be reserved for two separate uses, granted that those uses occur at different times. WHAT IT MEANS The report looked at the impact of Main Street's changing business community on parking needs in the city. While there was debate about whether a new, more intensive study needed to be commissioned, city planners agreed to look at ways of increasing revenue at the city's parking facilities and future parking needs of two large developments planned for the downtown area.

JACK'S BEACH CONCESSION The Huntington Beach City Council approved an extension of the rental lease for Jack's Beach Concession and Dwight's Beach Concession, both operated by the Clapp family. The two businesses provide a variety of beach rentals and food sales for visitors to Huntington Beach. Debbie Cook was absent from the meeting. WHAT IT MEANS Both Jack's and Dwight's will receive a second extension of their 10-year-old lease. The leases will be extended until Dec 31, 2009.