It will take time for the water utility to get to the correct utility person and additional time for the utility to actually take the steps to restore service if it has already been interrupted. By then it may be too late. The need for better protection of water service during interruptions in electricity service is clear. While the draft decision expresses a number of valid points, those points do not support a conclusion that water agencies should be subject to blackouts. We wish to reaffirm our previous input that water agencies should be given a higher priority for electricity service during rotating outages.
Water is even more essential and basic to human life and endeavors than electricity.
We do not believe there is justification to reject and ignore the need to assure that water agencies at all times are able to consistently provide adequate supplies of good quality water. We therefore request that the final decision in this proceeding provide better assurance of continued water service during outages than available under current CPUC and utility policies. This can best be achieved by exempting water agencies from blackouts.