Southern California Edison is canceling a controversial program that allows commercial buildings under its high-voltage transmission lines, saying that the structures can interfere with line maintenance and future expansion.
The decision comes as county fire officials have grown increasingly outspoken about the safety of allowing structures on the wide rights of way that in the past have been left empty for safety reasons or used for farm fields, horse stables and plant nurseries. The utility will return to its former policy of reserving the rights of way under the lines for "low intensity" uses such as greenbelts and hiking trails, Edison officials said in a statement.
Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Scott L. Poster reacted enthusiastically when told Edison was changing its policy.
"That's good. They may have their own reasons to do it, but it's definitely good for the Fire Department and public safety," he said.
Edison launched an aggressive program several years ago to lease land under high-voltage lines for dozens of planned self-storage centers, RV storage yards and other projects. In the last seven years, buildings have been proposed on Edison rights of way in at least 18 cities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Many called for 65-year leases.
The Edison program reflects the growing scarcity of affordable open land in the densely populated region, as cities and developers strain to add new buildings in shoehorn fashion. Some industry experts hailed the program as an innovative way to reap more revenue from the long strips of vacant land lacing the Los Angeles Basin.
Several projects have been built, including one self-storage complex in Long Beach and another near Anaheim. Others have received city approval, and a small strip mall is now under construction in Rosemead.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department has fought the program for more than three years, saying that several California firefighters have been killed or injured while battling fires or training under high-voltage lines. Poster said he once watched a firefighter receive a severe shock when water from his hose hit a transmission line.
The department, which serves 58 of the county's 88 cities, revised its fire code in 2006 to forbid permanent structures under the lines.
Poster said in an interview Wednesday that county fire officials felt so strongly about the potential safety problems that they were requesting a similar change in international codes.
Edison officials released a statement Thursday in response to questions from the Times about safety issues that might be caused by the building program. The statement said the program was ending because "permanent structures impair our ability to safely maintain and inspect" the lines and that future expansions would leave less land available for other uses.
"We made our decision independently of any decision by the county Fire Department," Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said Saturday.
All buildings now on its rights of way are safe, he said.
Conroy said the main reason for Edison's policy change was the utility's $4.3-billion project to expand and improve its transmission grid. In its statement, Edison said it would honor its commitments to finishing existing projects.
It wasn't clear exactly when the program was canceled. Conroy said Edison had been considering the change for more than a year. But as recently as Nov. 6, the utility filed an application with the state Public Utilities Commission to lease 17 acres under transmission lines in Chino to a storage firm.
In September, an Edison representative presented a written statement to the city of Orange planning department backing a proposed Vault Self Storage complex under high-voltage lines in that city.
Edison must obtain state approval when it leases land to developers, and the PUC has approved a number of self-storage projects, including one this year for a facility in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles. The commission has not reviewed fire safety questions, which it considers a local land-use matter handled by cities, said Sean Gallagher, director of the PUC's Energy Division.
"We're the utility regulator, but we're not the land-use regulator," he said Friday. Gallagher said he was not aware of the county Fire Department's concerns but that "we'd be happy to talk to fire officials and get a better feel for the issue," nor was he aware that Edison was ending its building program.
Power lines are suspected in at least five of the 12 major wildfires in Southern California in October, prompting an ongoing PUC review. Two families who lost homes, in the Witch and Rice fires, are suing San Diego Gas & Electric Co., saying the utility failed to clear brush, the Associated Press reported Friday.
The Edison program largely involved commercial building on rights of way in densely built urban and suburban areas rather than the more wild areas where most of the fires occurred.
