SACRAMENTO, CA (KMJ) – California’s governor demands accountability from P&GE for what he calls the mismanaged power shutoffs.
738,000 customers in than 30 counties lost power as Pacific Gas & Electric tried to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires by conducting a planned power outage.
On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom”s Office said he was demanding action by the states largest utility in a letter to PG&E President William Johnson.
In his letter, Newsom said the utility was “not adequately prepared to conduct or implement a power outage, especially one on this unprecedented scale.”
Newsom is urging PG&E to give a credit of $100 to residential customers, and $250 for small businesses that were affected by the outage.
Newsom’s letter also called attention to the utility’s website, which did not work for much of the week as customers tried to check if power in their area would be affected.
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Newsom is also asking the California Public Utilities Commission to conduct an inquiry into PG&E’s actions.
The CPUC will hold an emergency meeting on October 18, to hear from PG&E executives about the planned outage.
Click to hear the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
