Southern California Edison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Southern California Edison - Essay ExampleBased in Rosemead, California, the company was founded in the year 1886 by the micturate Holt & Knupps. They were primarily a provider of street lights then. (About, par.1) Later, in 1897, West Side Lighting Co. and Los Angeles Electric Co. merged to form Edison Electric Co. of Los Angeles. The company changed its name to Southern California Edison in 1909. Todays Southern California Edison is a 122 years old company, serving more than 13 million people, (EI 1, par.1) providing reliable galvanizing service covering more than 50,000 squargon miles (EI 1, par.1) of central, coastal and central southern California, employing more than 15,500 employees, (SCE 1, par.7)While going through the news releases of SCE, one happens to come crossways this recent article about Safe holiday lighting tips.(EI 2, par.4) saying As the excitement of the season sets in with decorative displays, many people are inadvertently exposed to a greater safety risk of becoming the victim of a fire or electrical accident, such as jerking or electrocution. And the rest is about safety measures and light saving tips. It sounded more like an advisory. After going through it, one gets the feeling that they have scripted it less out of concern for their customers and more out of concern about the blame people would put on their head in case if something went wrong and as yet if it wasnt their fault. Not without a reason, since I came across an another(prenominal) article in Los Angeles Times which said Power lines are the suspected culprits behind 12 major fires destroyed 1041 homes and killed two people. (Mozingo, par.1) Somehow, I feel, this is another typical case of strained relations between a big company not being able to clutch all its customers happy. A common observation involving monopoly businesses.SuppliersLike e very other big company, SCE manages its suppliers in a very systematic manner. SCE requires vendors for various purposes lik e managing scrap, meter data management, managing its ERP, nil procurement (natural gas and whole sale electric supplies), various materials, etc. One remarkable feature is that it does its energy efficiency program jointly with other utility companies viz. Pacific Gas and Electric Company and San Diego Gas and Electric Company. As such, vendors for efficient energy management are evaluated jointly.One very optimistic feature is SCEs active encouragement for renewable and alternative power generation. In fact, it has a special power contracting option for smaller biomass generators so as to contribute towards Californias renewable energy as well as environmental goals.CompetitorsUntil Californias rush into energy deregulation in 1996, SCE had a tightly set but a natural monopoly. Though it was intended to move towards a less regulated energy market so as to decrease the cost of electricity by fostering competition among producers, its practical effect has been divestment of gener ation facilities by utility companies. SEC is the primary electric supplier for much of Southern California. However, the Los Angeles