New round of PG&E power shutoffs possible Wednesday - KCRA Sacramento

About 184,000 customers could lose power Wednesday if PG&E initiates its shutoff plan aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires.The utility said its meteorologists are monitoring warm and windy conditions in 17 counties from Wednesday to Friday. PG&E officials said during a news conference that they will decide whether or not to shut off power Wednesday morning. If the utility decides to initiate the power shutoffs, it could begin by 2 p.m. Wednesday for the Sierra foothillsThe areas that could be affected by the power shutoffs stretch from Plumas to Calaveras counties on the eastern side of the Valley and Mendocino to San Mateo counties on the western side. (Can't see the map below? Tap here)PHNjcmlwdCBpZD0iaW5mb2dyYW1fMF9lZGY3NDc1NC0zY2ExLTRlYWUtODM4Ny02YTczMTE2ZTNmNTIiIHRpdGxlPSJQRyZhbXA7YW1wO2FtcDtFIFBvd2VyIFNodXRvZmZzIHdlZWsgb2YgT2N0LiAyMSwgMjAxOSIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL2UuaW5mb2dyYW0uY29tL2pzL2Rpc3QvZW1iZWQuanM/YmdCIiB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPjwvc2NyaXB0Pg=="Obviously, when we call a Public Safety Power Shutoff, we want to make sure we're doing it in the right areas and for the right customers that really need to be impacted," said Brandi Merlo, a spokesperson for PG&E. Merlo said the company is working to narrow the scope of the outages, which most recently affected more than 700,000 customers and approximately 2 million people from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12.OFFICIALS CRITICIZE POWER SHUTOFFSThe power shutoff possibility comes days after company executives were grilled in San Francisco by the California Public Utilities Commission, which said the utility failed in its execution of that shutoff. Specifically, the CPUC cited website and call center failures, as well as poor communication with local governments. The company has vowed to correct those issues. "While we stand by our decision last time to shut off the power, we acknowledge that there were areas where we fell short," Merlo said. "And so for this PSPS, we are certainly working on items such as our website to ensure that it can handle the traffic. We're also looking at augmenting the staffing in our call center to ensure that it can also handle calls from customers, and we are looking at narrowing the scope as much as possible."Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote a letter Tuesday to PG&E CEO Bill Johnson, saying, "I expect PG&E to address its failures from the prior PSPS event."In the letter, Newsom referred to an Oct. 14 letter in which he called the shutoffs of two weeks ago unacceptable in scope and duration. "Finally, as I stated in my previous letter," he wrote, "PG&E shareholders have an obligation to its customers following the failed execution of its previous PSPS decision. I continue to strongly urge PG&E to issue automatic rebate or credit of $100 per residential customer and $250 per small business as some compensation for the hardship suffered."PG&E, in its response, said it would not commit to a rebate or a credit and that it's focusing on reducing wildfire risk. PG&E said, in part:"We are considering the Governor’s request, but right now during this current fire season, we are focused on keeping our customers and communities safe and reducing wildfire risk. The State of California’s current electric tariffs do not call for reimbursement for weather- or safety-related outages. A PSPS is a weather-driven event. We remain open to future policy discussion with lawmakers and regulators on this matter, and many other wildfire-safety related policy issues."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

About 184,000 customers could lose power Wednesday if PG&E initiates its shutoff plan aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires.

The utility said its meteorologists are monitoring warm and windy conditions in 17 counties from Wednesday to Friday.

PG&E officials said during a news conference that they will decide whether or not to shut off power Wednesday morning. If the utility decides to initiate the power shutoffs, it could begin by 2 p.m. Wednesday for the Sierra foothills

The areas that could be affected by the power shutoffs stretch from Plumas to Calaveras counties on the eastern side of the Valley and Mendocino to San Mateo counties on the western side. (Can't see the map below? Tap here)

"Obviously, when we call a Public Safety Power Shutoff, we want to make sure we're doing it in the right areas and for the right customers that really need to be impacted," said Brandi Merlo, a spokesperson for PG&E.

Merlo said the company is working to narrow the scope of the outages, which most recently affected more than 700,000 customers and approximately 2 million people from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12.

OFFICIALS CRITICIZE POWER SHUTOFFS

The power shutoff possibility comes days after company executives were grilled in San Francisco by the California Public Utilities Commission, which said the utility failed in its execution of that shutoff.

Specifically, the CPUC cited website and call center failures, as well as poor communication with local governments. The company has vowed to correct those issues.

"While we stand by our decision last time to shut off the power, we acknowledge that there were areas where we fell short," Merlo said. "And so for this PSPS, we are certainly working on items such as our website to ensure that it can handle the traffic. We're also looking at augmenting the staffing in our call center to ensure that it can also handle calls from customers, and we are looking at narrowing the scope as much as possible."

Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote a letter Tuesday to PG&E CEO Bill Johnson, saying, "I expect PG&E to address its failures from the prior PSPS event."

In the letter, Newsom referred to an Oct. 14 letter in which he called the shutoffs of two weeks ago unacceptable in scope and duration.

"Finally, as I stated in my previous letter," he wrote, "PG&E shareholders have an obligation to its customers following the failed execution of its previous PSPS decision. I continue to strongly urge PG&E to issue automatic rebate or credit of $100 per residential customer and $250 per small business as some compensation for the hardship suffered."

PG&E, in its response, said it would not commit to a rebate or a credit and that it's focusing on reducing wildfire risk. PG&E said, in part:

"We are considering the Governor’s request, but right now during this current fire season, we are focused on keeping our customers and communities safe and reducing wildfire risk. The State of California’s current electric tariffs do not call for reimbursement for weather- or safety-related outages. A PSPS is a weather-driven event. We remain open to future policy discussion with lawmakers and regulators on this matter, and many other wildfire-safety related policy issues."

2019-10-23 02:06:00Z
https://www.kcra.com/article/new-round-of-pgande-power-shutoffs-possible-wednesday/29555479