By Daniela Coe-McNamara
Staff Writer
California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 66 into law on Oct. 7 to regulate power outages throughout the South Bay by requiring electric companies to regulate their equipment.
This bill is in response to a rise in power outages for both residential and business districts in Manhattan Beach and surrounding areas in recent months.
“The bill will make the Public Utilities Commission aware of the power outages we have had in the past,” Manhattan Beach Mayor Pro Tem Amy Howorth said. “This will change Manhattan Beach and the state of California for the better by improving our electrical systems.”
Assembly Bill 66 is designed to prevent or at least notify residents and cities before power outages occur in each area. With this new bill, Manhattan Beach will require power companies to make necessary upgrades to their equipment to prevent frequent outages.
“We have had planned power outages before, which are scheduled during the day so it doesn’t affect our sales,” said an anonymous Manhattan Beach Target manager. “During any other power outages, we use our own generators to power the store, even though they don’t always hold out through the entire outage.”
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