60 Years Providing Electricity, Gas and Water to Catalina
60 Years Providing Electricity, Gas and Water to Catalina
Catalina in the 1960s was a sleepy little island with about 2,000 permanent residents and bison roaming the hillsides.
But in the 60 years since then, its population has grown while its infrastructure continues to develop.
“Now, Catalina has twice the number of permanent residents and is wired for the demands of nearly 1 million visitors each year,” said Don Knabe, a former Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member and lifelong advocate for the island.
“It’s a whole different ballgame with Southern California Edison on the island today. Catalina has a wonderful utility partner building a modern infrastructure for our future.”
This year marks the 60th anniversary of SCE serving as the electric, gas and water utility for Catalina, a popular getaway 22 miles from the Southern California mainland. The resort town of Two Harbors lies to the north. To the south, in the city of Avalon, palm trees and cabanas line Descanso Beach.
The island’s geography can present some challenges. Before 1962, other utilities on Catalina struggled to meet the island’s needs due to its remote location — far from access to mainland resources and few customers to support the utilities’ operations and infrastructure.
“SCE has turned that around,” said Avalon City Council Member Yesenia De La Rosa. “There have been many challenges over the years, including droughts, fires and hurricane swells, as well as growth in population and tourism. SCE faces these challenges head-on and has maintained reliable service for our island.”
Since beginning to serve Catalina, SCE has taken many steps to upgrade infrastructure to meet modern requirements and support the Catalina community. They include:
- Building water desalination plants that help mitigate water shortages and customer water rationing during droughts, as well as reducing reliance on limited groundwater.
- Increasing Middle Ranch Reservoir capacity for water storage.
- Partnering with the city of Avalon to obtain outside grants that enhance Catalina’s water system and manage affordability.
- Preparing to install covered wires to minimize the potential of igniting a wildfire.
- Partnering with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Catalina stakeholders to prepare a comprehensive Drought Contingency Plan for the island.
- Adding emissions reduction technology to the power generation system, including introducing battery energy storage to Catalina’s grid.
- Improving island resiliency with backup monitoring, control and support capability from the mainland.
- Providing regular grants to Catalina nonprofits to help support the community.
SCE is also launching Catalina’s first-ever request for proposals to add new, cleaner, renewable energy resources to help power the island. And the company is examining ways to “electrify” the gas utility distribution system to help meet the state’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and clean the island’s air.
By transforming Catalina’s utility system, SCE is working to meet the needs of future generations of customers and visitors.
“We’re always looking ahead,” said Jill Anderson, SCE executive vice president of Operations. “Throughout our 60 years on the island, we have upgraded infrastructure to improve the reliability and sustainability of our service to Catalina customers. We will continue to set ambitious goals to deliver clean and affordable energy and water for those on Catalina now and into the future.”
For more information on clean energy initiatives, visit edison.com/clean-energy.