Watson
From page I
build-up of static electricity in a
ship's rigging.
Catalina Island apparently had
its own variation on these lumi-
nous phenomena in the form of
what I call the "Backside Lights"
as related to me by some well-
known locals.
Several years ago, a group of
kids and adults with the Avalon
Day Camp was spending i}
an overnight camping trip
at Little Harbor. Sean
Brannock, who was there
overseeing the group, re-
lated how in the middle
of the night an intense
micro-burst of wind and
rain hit tliearea. Most of
the campershad n 0 tents
"(The lights) were doing things
like jumping up and down," he
said, adding that_ there seemed
to be no coordinated motion, but
rather a chaotic pattern.
He described the lights as num-
bering from "aboUt 15 to 18." Each
one was round and about 3-feet
in diimeter and they were all fly-
ing about 20 to 50 feet above the
ground. While primarily a bright
orange color ("like the color of
fire"), he said they shifted through
other colors as well ,like
a sunset."
It all ended somewhat
abruptly when the rain
and the wind stopped
and the-strange orbs
simply vanished in the
night. "The thing about
this was thatnone of-us
. talked:tO.eaCh other that
one's sleeping and all of a sudden
the wind starts to pick up?'
The blasting wind was quickly
joined by a sudden and dramatic
downpour. "It POURED rain; like
the hardest rain," he said.
Lisa Keppel was there and was
immediately concerned about
what effect the deluge would have
on the kids. "I said, 'Thank God
these kids are sleeping,'" she said.
As they lay there in their sleep-
ing bags, staring up into the night
sky with nowhere to get out of the
rain, they first noticed "them"--a
number of strange, colored lights
that were hovering in the sky
above.
"There were all these flashing,
different lights," said Sean; "They
seemed like they were right above
us, over our heads. They kept go-
ing on and off and changing to dif-
ferent colors ... kind of like flash-
ing, dancing lights"
Our local chef extraordinaire
Greg Wenger was in the group,
too. Unlike the others, he and
his wife were inside a tent and it
was the brightness of the objects
that first woke him up. "The sky
turned a bright orange like the
sunset and you heard all kinds of
weird noises, like giant fans going
off," he said.
"We all got up and stared up at
the sky with our mouths open."
and were sleeping out ? C0tbf0o/st night," he; It wasn't
on the gr When the until the nexi-morning
weather 1iii-77: - " ......
,, ..... : -:that any of the s: campers
There we, were in the middlc(, broughtit up, s, ,tiwe
of the night, -said Sean, "everyZ: at breakfast andit tike :
ple said they all saw the same thing
and everyone's mouth was open. "
What could explain this bi-
zarre phenomenon? I exchanged
e-mails with Dr. Robert Fovell,
a specialist in mesoscale meteo-
rology at UCLA. Evidently per-
plexed, Fovell said he had "no idea
what was going on" and asked for
more information.
I told him what 1 knew and
brought up some of my own theo-
ries, including the possibility that
this was an example of what's
known as "ball lightning," an ex-
tremely rare and little understood
weather phenomenon. With only a
handful of reported cases in all of
history, "ball lightning" is thought
to be a naturally-occurring electri-
cal charge associated with thun-
derstorms that manifests itself in
the form of glowing spheres that
then proceed to wreak havoc.
Evidently none of my ideas im-
pressed the good doctor, however.
He simply replied: "Unfortunately,
I still have no clue. Sorry?'
So, in the absence of any official
explanation of the matter, I confess
a bit of me is happy to report that
the strange "Backside Lights" will
go down in the books as yet anoth-
er Catalina Island mystery.
Coming soon: Beginning later
this month, the book "Mysteri-
ous Island: Catalina,'" based on
this column, will be available at
Amazon, including Kindle, and in
stores all over Avalon. Visit the
Channel Catalina website at www.
channelcatalina.com for details.
City of Avalon Fire Department
CPR/First Aid Class
Thursday, July 26 th, 2012
5:00 PM at the Avalon Fire Department
$40 for both CPR and First Aid
cards are good for 2 years , -
No reservations required, just show (Jp at the Fire Station.
If you have any questions, call
Captain Michael Alegria at 310.510.0203 ext 335
Published in the Catalina Islander Ju113 and 20 , 2012.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Submit your photograph, graphic or art of
. Catalina. I! we use it for a cover, you'tt get
a free one year subscription to the Istander
and recognition. SEND High resolution
digita[ JPEG fites-300dpi min.-via emai[
to ed@cinews.us.
Must be origina[
artwork. By
submitting work,
the senders
agree to license
pubbshing in
the Catalina
Istander
newspaper.
museum is
lecture will
offered by the
Catalina will be the focus of a lecture by the author of "Grand
Ventures: The Banning Family and the Shaping of Southern
California" at the Banning Museum in Wilmington Calif. The
lecture and book signing by author Tom Sitton will begin at
10 a.m. in the historic carriage barn on Saturday, July 28, The
East "M" St. The Sitton
of historical lectures
• Phindas Bannir)g and
"egion based on "Grand
on the second Banning gee-
Island from 1892
.pirit."
Promote Education
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON COMPANY
NOTICE OF APPLICATION FLUNG FOR CHANGES IN ELECTRIC REVENUES:
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND
DEMAND RESPONSE INTEGRATED DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMS AND BUDGETS FOR 2013-2014
APPLICATION (A.) 12-07-004
On J'01y 2,, 20i-2, Southern CJlifomia Edison C6rn)a/y (SCP=):filed an Application with the alifomi;
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requesting a change in SCE's electdc re,ehue;-i'(lated to its
proposed energy efficiency program for4he 2013-2014 program cycle.
ENERGYEFFICIENCYPROGRAMPLANS r" / " = : a ; ; : " = : t '
On May 18, 2012, the CPUC issued Decision D.12-05-015, which ordered SCE, Pacific Gas and
Electdc Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electdc Company (SDG&E) and Southern Caiifomia
:Gas Company (SoCalGas) to file applications with the CPUC to establish energy efficiency programs
and budgets for 2013 and 2014. SCE's proposed application A.12-07-004 requests CPUC approval
of SCE's proposed progtamplans and budgets, which will allow SCE to continue to effectively and
efficiently promote impland maintain the CPUC's Energy Efficiency Program. These programs
are intended to pursue Jane[e€courage energy-efficisnt measures over both the short- and long-term. In
order to fully implement b'lSm :prog rams in 2013 and 2014, SCE is requesting the CPUC authorize SCE
to collect $355.8 million iannual electric revenues over each of the next 2 years (2013-2014) to/und
these programs. T'rsis .a!" decrease of more than $46 million over the annual revenues authorized
for the 2010 - 2012 Energy Efficiency program cycle. If approved by the CPUC, SCE's request €ould
potentially result in a to customer base rates.
Ttle following table compares SCE's current average'retes to the proposed change in average ates
i(SCE's proposals in this application are approved by the Commission: .
. Present Average Proposed Bundled Proposed,
Customer Group Bundled ServiCe Rates Service Rates Change
June 2012 -
€/kWh : ¢JkWh %
Residential 16.17 16.11 -0.39%
Lighting -Small and Med um Power 15.39 15.33 -0.36%
Le,e Power 10.40 10.35 -0.43%
Agricultural and Pump n,q 11.78 11.73 -0.34%
Streetand Area Lighting 18.26 18.20 -0.33%
Total " 14.43 14.38 -0.38%
**The actual changes in rates will be determined by the CPUC
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FROM SCE .
You may view these materials at lowing SeE business offices:
1 Pebbly Beach Rd. 3 Rimrock Rd. 374 Lagoon St.
Avalon, CA 90704 tow, CA 92311 Bishop, CA 93514
505 W. 14 = Ave. 3Q01 Chateau Rd. 510 S. China Lake Blvd,
Blythe, CA 92225 Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546 Ridgecrest, CA 93555
26364 Pine Ave. 4)1694 Dinkey Creek Rd. 421 W. J St.,
Rimforest, CA 92378 Shaver Lake, CA 93664 Tehachapi, CA 93561
120 Woodland Dr., L999 Old Woman Springs Rd.
Wofford Heights, CA 93285 Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Customers with:lntemet access tha; view and download SCE's application and the papers supporting
it on SCE's web site, www.sce.com/a )elications. Those without Internet access or anyone wishing
to obtain more information about the application or hard copies of some or all of the materials should
send a written request, referring to Application No. 12-07-004 to:
Southern California Edison Company
P.O. Box 800
Rosemeed, CA 91770
Attention: Case Administration
You may also review a copy of this application and related exhibits at SCE's corporate headquarters
(2244 Walnut Grove Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91770).
Los usuarios con accese al Intemet podrn leer y descargar esta notificaci6n en espetol en el sitio
Web de SCE www.sce.com/avises o escriba a:
Southern California Edison Company
P.O. Box 800
2244 Walnut Grove Avenue
Rosemead, CA 91770
Atencibn: Comunicaciones Corporatives
You may also review a copy of the Application at the CPUC's Formal Files Office at 505 Van
Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 A.M. to
noon daily
EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS IEH'S
The CPUC may hold evidentiary hearings where parties of record present their proposals in testimony
and are subject to cross-examination before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). These hearings
are open to the public, but only those who are formal parties of record may present evidence or
cress-examine witnesses during EH's. Members of the public may attend, but not participate in these
hearings After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the formal hearing process,
the assigned ALJ will issue a proposed decision that the CPUC will either adopt, amend, or modify
in issuing its final decision on the application. The CPUC's final decision may differ from what is
requested by SCE in its Application.
The CPUC's Division of Ratepeyer Advocates (DRA) will review this application. The eRA is an
independent arm of the CPUC, created by the Legislature to represent the interests of all utility
customers througllout the state and obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable
and safe service level s. The DR.& has a multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance,
accounting and engineering. The DRA's views do not necessarily reflect those of the CPUC: Other
parties of record will also participate.
CPUC PROCESS
If you wish to comment on this proceeding, you may submit written correspondence or send an email
to the CPUC's Public Advisor's Office (PAO) at the address shown below. Please state that you are
writing concerning SCE's application A.12-07-004. (our comments will become a part of the formal
correspondence file for public comment in this proceeding. When writing a letter or email, please refer
to Application No. 12-07-004. The PAO will circulate your comments to the five Commissioners, the
ALJ, DRA, and to CPUC staff assigned to this proceeding. You may atso contact the PAO if you need
assistance on how to participate in this proceeding.
The Public Advisor
California Public Utilities Commission
320 West Fourth Street, Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Emaih Pu blic.Advisor.la(d)couc.ca.aov
July 2, 2012.
.......................................... : ........... - ......................................................................... ........................................................ Friday, July 20, 20:1_219
THE CATAUNA ISLANDER
