Anza Electric Cooperative’s founding begins in 1953. It was and is an American Cooperative Utility Company originally built by the people it serves. Democracy is in action for sure, with a representative (Directors) leadership operating on behalf of its members. Anza Electric was founded on the seven cooperative principles, the most important being to provide reliable electric energy at an affordable cost, as a member owned utility. In other words, if you have a meter, you are probably an Anza Electric Member which means you and all those like you own the company.

When Anza electric was born a few men from all walks of life and a few great ladies put poles in the ground and began to pull wire across the countryside, they had little help except a loan from the United States Rural Electrification Administration formed by President Roosevelt to help take Rural America out of the dark. Back then no one could have ever imagined turning the power off, their only focus was how do we keep the power on. It was a different time, limitations and the impossible were considered excuses for doing nothing and so the townspeople took it upon themselves to turn the lights on for the first time.

In those early years electricity was for the privileged, it was an expensive luxury so bringing electricity to Anza was doing something that most wouldn’t do, and few wanted to do. By the early 1980s however electricity had become more of a necessity, and by the turn of the century electricity is now the life blood of the American Economy, without it almost everything comes to a stop. This is particularly excruciating for Anza Electric Members and those who remember the early days when the lights went out sometimes for days due to storms and the always threatening Santa Ana winds that wreak havoc across the territory. No power in Anza means no water, no heat, not just for residents but all livestock and animals as well. No security, no school, no work, everything comes to a stop. As the years went by Anza Electric continually hardened its system as part of its

mission and promise to its members to keep the lights on and by the turn of the century Anza Electric system reliability was one of the best in the nation in any weather even though much of its infrastructure was nearly 50 years old. For the mostly home-grown crews of Anza Electric, it wasn’t just a job it was their promise to do what it took to keep the lights on in even the worst of conditions, and over the years the reputation of those folks that work at Anza Electric has carried on to today, but as good as they may be they have to rely upon the Board of Directors, (the members representatives) for policies and resolutions that move the Company forward into the future with continued reliability, structure and affordability. The wrong decisions made by the Board of Directors can have devastating consequences. As we now know from the devastating disasters in Los Angeles County, elected leaders often lack the ability to recognize the vulnerability they place upon the people who are relying upon them to keep them safe and secure.

In the late 1980’s Anza Electrics, the new Board of Directors began to evaluate the reliability of the system and various proposals to harden and strengthen the system from wild land fire. Mainly because Riverside County had suffered increasing damage from wildland fires and loss of acreage especially in Rural Areas. In part this led to the re-construction of the Transmission Line owned by Anza Electric. Other reasons included the need for additional power and reduction in line losses, the project was just in time as the 1990’s was the worst combined loss of property due to wildland fire in the County’s history. The Board of Directors at that time concluded that Anza Electric Members were acutely vulnerable by having only one transmission line no matter how secure the line might be. However, the matter was never given the seriousness it should have received until the Cranston fire destroyed 12 miles of the transmission line on the Edison side and damaged eight structures on the Anza Electric side. The event was devastating

and the costs economically even for a small community like Anza were in millions of dollars and displaced more than 2500 families. Had there been a second transmission line Anza members would have seen little more than a blink.

The recovery from the Cranston Fire and the mitigation by Anza Electric was miraculous, bringing in portable generation and other smaller single use generators. Anza Electric Crews worked around the clock, Arizona Crews and Engineers arrived to help with the re-construction and SoCal Edison dispatched 250 personnel, 36 trucks, and two helicopters and combined re-built the system in 8 days. The predictions were 15 days to a month without power. You could say a catastrophe had been averted.

In September of that year a motion was made at the Anza Electric Board meeting to Request that Arizona Electric begin the process of securing a second transmission line for Anza Electric. What had been learned from the Cranston Fire was compelling; When the power was lost Anza Residence were left defenseless should another fire have threatened the community. No power meant no water, and no pumps even if you had water. Water tanks required by fire officials for residential and commercial fire protection were useless without a Fire Engine. By 2018 the volunteer fire company had been disbanded, Disaster Preparedness units had lost funding some years before leaving Anza Residence vulnerable and virtually unable to defend themselves and their property. Even if Fire Engines were available and responding there were only nine of them with three water tenders, on normal rotation, none of which could respond to a first alarm anywhere close to the four minutes necessary to be effective. At the time of the Cranston Fire additional fire assets were mostly committed defending Idyllwild and so the loss of the single transmission line could have meant a disaster to more than 4,500 residents and 550 square miles of territory.

As compelling the argument was that the second transmission line was a matter of public safety, the motion failed for a lack of a second, and the Board of Directors dropped the subject from the agenda for the third time.

TO BE CONTINUED