BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) - Power shutoffs intended to prevent wildfires are once again leaving residents and business owners in Kernville frustrated and struggling to stay afloat.
Cheryl Borthick, owner of Cheryl’s Diner, says her power has been suddenly shut off five times in the past two weeks. The most recent outage, this past Saturday, lasted for more than 10 hours. She estimates the rolling blackouts have cost her about $15,000.
“I’m just concerned for everybody, it’s really a catastrophe,” Borthick said.
“I mean, I have employees that have probably lost 4 days of work in the last two weeks. I’ve lost a lot of business, and I’m not the only one.”
She’s not. Just down the road, Tricia La Belle, owner of The Sportsman's Inn, says the outages are taking a serious toll on her business as well.
“All the outages to date right now, I’m looking at around close to 10,000, it was 5,000 alone this weekend,” said La Belle.
La Belle says she is now struggling to pay the mortgage and isn’t sure how much longer she’ll be able to keep her doors open.
“This is literally devastating an entire town. I collected over 200 signatures yesterday on a petition to send to SCE, CPUC as well as our district legislators.”
Beyond the financial losses, many local business owners say they feel left in the dark when it comes to communication from Southern California Edison (SCE).
“They have not returned any of our emails, they have not returned our phone calls, they have declined invitations to have a public meeting with the residents and the members of the chambers of commerce and other local organizations,” said Gary Ananian, President of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce. “That is my biggest concern — that they have kind of shut us down.”
Ananian says Kernville’s economy relies heavily on tourism, especially in the summer when as many as 50,000 visitors arrive each weekend.
“We had no power all weekend, and we saw people coming up here, there is nowhere to eat, nowhere to sleep, there is nothing to do, and they turn around and head right back.”
According to Borthick, the CEO of Edison reached out to her Monday and said they are working to schedule a time to meet with the community. But for now, she says, everyone is just trying to hang on.
“I’m praying that we can stay in business, and that everyone can.”
Everyone interviewed agrees: they want communication, transparency, and answers.
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