Anger is mounting after power was cut off to 800,000 customers living in 35 counties of northern California in early October, disrupting economic activity and leading to auto accidents and injuries. According to CNBC, “the economic impact of…the preventative power outages could be upwards of $2 billion.”
A sense of frustration and lack of trust in utility officials is emanating from community members and political leaders. Governor Gavin Newsom wrote a letter to PG&E President Bill Johnson demanding that the utility offer rebates, $100 for residential customers and $250 for businesses, to accommodate for the shutdown, saying that, “PG&E was not adequately prepared to conduct or implement a power outage.”
State Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) told the Los Angeles Times, “I think…these shutdowns…are excessive. PG&E clearly hasn’t made its system safe…this cannot be something that can be acceptable…this is third world, and we are not.”
While the largest publicly owned utility was attempting to prevent a disaster with their decision, state regulators are ordering Pacific Gas and Electric, also known as PG&E, to alter their plan and reconsider widespread power outages.
The lack of power caused a series of accidents across the region, as traffic signals were not functioning. The City of Santa Rosa tweeted, “Police and Fire Departments have responded to multiple traffic collisions, including five with injuries at intersections without power.”
Food waste increased exponentially, as dethawing freezers and warming refrigerators caused spoilage. Business activity was disrupted, leaving many businesses facing smaller revenues, and employees with reduced hours and smaller paychecks. As with the majority of natural disasters, the individuals most impacted are those least prepared to handle financial setbacks.
Classes were canceled, and schools were temporarily closed across northern California. 17,000 students in the California State University system were affected, as Sonoma State and Humboldt State campuses were shut down. While some students celebrated the temporary reprieve from mid-term exams, hourly employees were negatively impacted by the closures.
The outages were especially problematic for electric car owners. Tesla owners received alert messages warning them that a power outage was planned and that all batteries should be charged to 100% to prevent disturbances. With a range of only a few hundred miles, electric cars need to be charged regularly, and as the outage persisted for days, this presented serious obstacles for commuters. Families that solely own electric vehicles found themselves in an interesting predicament. Chad Hernandez of Petaluma, Calif. told the Washington Post that he was forced to buy a gas generator so he could keep his Tesla charged, as it was his only vehicle.
California dominates the electric vehicle market, accounting for almost 50% of the sales in the U.S., according to EVAdoption.com. Sales in the last two years alone amounted to nearly 250,000 electric vehicles in the state. As the letter to PG&E detailed, these factors must be taken into consideration before widespread power outages are ordered.
As a result of lawsuits stemming from prior fires, PG&E is saddled with $30 billion in claims and is facing bankruptcy proceedings. Some believe that the recent shutdown was motivated by the utility’s financial situation more than their regard for public safety. Newsom wrote in his letter that, “the unacceptable scope and duration of this outage was the direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety…and PG&E’s lack of preparation and poor performance is particularly alarming.”
