[NFBC-Info] FW: [ElectricityEqualsLife] PGE full articles

president at nfbcal.org president at nfbcal.org
Sun Oct 20 18:46:49 UTC 2019


For anyone concerned about the accessibility of PG&E materials, such as web
resources, charts and maps, please contact the following advocate.
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mkasnitz at cforat.org
(510) 841-3224.



-----Original Message-----
From: NFBC-Info <nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Eric Calhoun via
NFBC-Info
Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2019 4:37 PM
To: nfbc-info at nfbnet.org
Cc: Eric Calhoun <eric at pmpmail.com>
Subject: [NFBC-Info] FW: [ElectricityEqualsLife] PGE full articles

For everyone in NFBC northern California, I've been advocating along with
many other people.  This is an outrage!


Original Message: 
From: "Margaret Hall sismhall1 at aol.com [ElectricityEqualsLife]"
<ElectricityEqualsLife at yahoogroups.com>
To: electricityequalslife at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ElectricityEqualsLife] PGE full articles
Date: 
Sat, 19 Oct 2019 15:31:24 -0700

Hi everyone,

I've tried to cut and paste. Hopefully they're readable. I'd say it was
worth the long wait, not only for the media exposure but because all the PGE
officials were ordered by PUC to remain and listen to us. My own favorite
cathartic moment came when I got to tell them that they reminded me of
teenagers, to whom we sometimes have to say.. "you should have seen this
coming."  

First is from KQED on-line; second story AP/New York Times Note the last
line in KQED: this week "State Senate opens hearings"; Marilyn, do you have
any info on that?

fight the power!
Marg


PG&E Power Safety Shutoffs Could Continue for 10 Years, Says CEO Lisa
Pickoff-White <https://www.kqed.org/author/lisapickoffwhite-2>
<https://www.twitter.com/pickoffwhite>
Oct 18
FACEBOOK <>
TWITTER
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2F11
7
81060%2Fpge-power-safety-shutoffs-could-continue-for-10-years-says-ceo&text=
PG%26E%20Power%20Safety%20Shutoffs%20Could%20Continue%20for%2010%20Years%2C%
20Says%20CEO>
EMAIL
<mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20article%20from%20KQED&body=https%3A%2F
%
2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2F11781060%2Fpge-power-safety-shutoffs-could-continue-
for-10-years-says-ceo>
COPY LINK <>

PG&E CEO Bill Johnson spoke to state utility regulators about power safety
shutoffs on Friday. (Stephanie Lister/KQED)

PG&E CEO and President Bill Johnson said Friday it could take up to 10 years
for the utility to improve its system enough to not have to rely on power
shutoffs to prevent wildfires during dry, windy conditions.

Johnson's comments came about a week after the utility cut power to about
2 million people in Northern and Central California, saying the outages were
needed due to high winds and dry conditions that could spark wildfires.

Johnson, who spoke at an emergency meeting of the California Public Utility
Commission in San Francisco, said the number of power shutoffs will decline
over the next decade as PG&E reroutes the electric grid so it can shut off
power to smaller areas, invests in microgrids to keep power on during
emergencies and updates thousands of miles of power lines in fire-prone
areas.


PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC POWER SHUTOFFS
<https://www.kqed.org/news/11780688/pge-customers-state-leaders-demand-answe
r
s-about-power-shutoffs>
PG&E Customers, State Leaders Demand Answers About Power Shutoffs

<https://www.kqed.org/news/11780688/pge-customers-state-leaders-demand-answe
r
s-about-power-shutoffs>
California Regulator Blasts PG&E Over Power Outages

<https://www.kqed.org/news/11780083/california-regulator-criticizes-utility-
o
ver-power-outages>
Micro Power Grids Emerge as Way to Keep Electricity on During Shutoffs

<https://www.kqed.org/science/1948951/micro-power-grids-emerging-as-a-way-to
-
keep-power-on-during-shutoffs>

California Public Utility Commission President Marybel Batjer began the
meeting at CPUC headquarters by telling PG&E that their handling of the
power shutoff was "inadequate."

"I can tell you that you guys failed on so many levels, on fairly simple
stuff," she said.

But while Johnson said that he was accountable for communication problems,
he defended the shutoff, saying that the company did it for safety.

"One of the things that stands out in my mind is that we did not have any
catastrophic fires in Northern and Central California. It's hard to prove a
negative," Johnson said.

Johnson also defended the utility's infrastructure.

"It is a misconception that we turned off power because our system is in
shambles," Johnson said. "Our system is in pretty good shape. The [public
safety power shutoff] was driven by a widespread wind event."

Utility executives said that they found about 100 instances where high winds
damaged or presented a hazard to electrical equipment
<https://www.kqed.org/news/11779839/pge-confirms-50-instances-of-damage-or-h
a
zard-to-its-equipment-during-outages> during the shutoff. They said that
most of the damage involved vegetation, like trees, grass or brush coming
into contact with power lines.


Sponsored


Sumeet Singh, vice president of PG&E's community wildfire safety program,
estimated that it could take 10 to 14 years for the company to finish
updating about 7,100 miles of power lines in high fire risk areas, and 8
years to improve vegetation management on 25,000 miles of lines in high-risk
areas.

Commissioners Lambast PG&E for Failing to Assist People With Disabilities

During the marathon hearing, commissioners repeatedly pushed executives on
how they reached out to people with disabilities.

PG&E's most recent shutoff event affected more than 30,000 customers who
take part in the utility's medical baseline program
<https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/save-energy-money/help-paying-your-bi
l
l/longer-term-assistance/medical-condition-related/medical-baseline-allowanc
e/medical-baseline-allowance.page>. People who use powered medical devices,
including oxygen concentrators and motorized wheelchairs, pay lower rates
for gas and electricity by applying to the program with a doctor's note.
Under rules approved by the commission, utilities now use medical baseline
status to identify and warn vulnerable customers before and during a power
shutoff.



<https://www.kqed.org/news/11779283/how-the-disabled-community-supported-eac
h
-other-when-the-power-went-out>LEFT IN THE DARK
<https://www.kqed.org/news/11779283/how-the-disabled-community-supported-eac
h
-other-when-the-power-went-out>
How the Disability Community Supported Each Other When the Power Went Out

<https://www.kqed.org/news/11779283/how-the-disabled-community-supported-eac
h
-other-when-the-power-went-out>
But the program is an imperfect proxy for medically vulnerable communities,
as Commissioner Liane M. Randolph noted.

Public health officers and consumer advocates say that the program
under-represents who's at risk in a shutoff area. For instance, people who
live in buildings that receive just one electric bill - or in mobile home
communities - can't register.

And while the medical baseline program itself dates back decades, it's only
this year that PG&E began to use it as a warning mechanism in this kind of
emergency. At the same time, a spokesman for San Diego Gas & Electric, the
utility that pioneered public safety shutoffs after the 2007 Witch Fire,
pointed out that regulations make eligible people who declare that they need
air conditioning to be comfortable for a variety of medical conditions.

It's not yet clear how well PG&E warned medical baseline customers about the
most recent shutoff event. According to earlier filings with the CPUC, PG&E
warns its medical baseline customers via text, email or automated call.


Marissa Shaw of Richmond, a member of the disability community, speaks
during the public comment period of Friday's CPUC meeting. Shaw said she was
not informed about PG&E's power outage because she's not eligible for the
medical baseline program, since her landlord pays her utility bill.
(Stephanie Lister/KQED)
If the customer doesn't confirm the warning, the utility will send someone
out to knock on the door, said PG&E Senior Vice President Laurie M.
Giammona.

If nobody answers the door, the utility hangs a tag, and considers the
outreach successful. Giammona said that PG&E workers left door tags for
about 700 people last week.

Deborah Kaplan of Oakland, who uses an electric chair, bed and ventilator
and requires the use of an elevator, explained that being notified about
power shutoffs "isn't all that helpful."

"If this is going to be a reality that we're going to have to get used to,
then people who rely on power for survival need to have backup," she said.


Deborah Kaplan (left) of Oakland and Marge Hall (right) of Berkeley waited
3.5 hours to speak during the public comment portion of Friday's CPUC
meeting in San Francisco. (Stephanie Lister/KQED) The CPUC's head of safety
and enforcement policy, Elizaveta Malashenko, told lawmakers in August that
the medical baseline program wasn't designed for emergency response.

Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves also wondered why some communities got
backup generators, when others didn't.

"Was wealth a factor?" she asked PG&E's Singh about why Calistoga got a
generator.

Singh said that was not the case.

PG&E Executives Detail Communication Breakdowns

PG&E's Giammona said that the utility had not anticipated the number of
people who would access the website.

She said that about 1.7 million users per hour were trying to use the PG&E
website during the power shut offs. Normally, only about 7,000 users access
the site per hour on a regular day.

CPUC President Batjer, who was present for some of PG&E's decision making
during the shutoff, said that employees too junior to make important
decisions about technology were the ones tasked with system testing.


CPUC President Marybel Batjer listens as PG&E executives speak at an
emergency meeting in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2019. (Stephanie
Lister/KQED)
She said that she was "astonished at the lack of infrastructure" for a
company of PG&E's size.

Batjer noted that dozens of local governments complained that they could not
reach PG&E during the shutoff.

PG&E executives described calls with county and tribal governments where
more than 1,000 people from local and tribal governments were on the line.

"Today a parade of PG&E executives told us what we already know - their
October [power shutoff] was a massive failure in execution," state Sen..
Jerry Hill told KQED via email.

Hill has been a consistent critic of PG&E since 2010, when one of the
utility's natural gas transmission lines exploded in San Bruno, killing
eight people in his district.

"It's good to know they are attempting to belatedly rebuild their support
services to meet customer needs ... But it would have been better for PG&E
leaders to detail exactly why it's going to take them 10 years to build the
resilient electrical system we should already have, so that power shutdowns
are truly a rare, last resort."

The California Senate opened its own investigation into how PG&E handled the
shutoff on Thursday.

Molly Peterson contributed to this report.








PG&E Executives Detail Communication Breakdowns

PG&E's Giammona said that the utility had not anticipated the number of
people who would access the website.

She said that about 1.7 million users per hour were trying to use the PG&E
website during the power shut offs. Normally, only about 7,000 users access
the site per hour on a regular day.

CPUC President Batjer, who was present for some of PG&E's decision making
during the shutoff, said that employees too junior to make important
decisions about technology were the ones tasked with system testing.


CPUC President Marybel Batjer listens as PG&E executives speak at an
emergency meeting in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2019. (Stephanie
Lister/KQED)
She said that she was "astonished at the lack of infrastructure" for a
company of PG&E's size.

Batjer noted that dozens of local governments complained that they could not
reach PG&E during the shutoff.

PG&E executives described calls with county and tribal governments where
more than 1,000 people from local and tribal governments were on the line.

"Today a parade of PG&E executives told us what we already know - their
October [power shutoff] was a massive failure in execution," state Sen..
Jerry Hill told KQED via email.

Hill has been a consistent critic of PG&E since 2010, when one of the
utility's natural gas transmission lines exploded in San Bruno, killing
eight people in his district.

"It's good to know they are attempting to belatedly rebuild their support
services to meet customer needs ... But it would have been better for PG&E
leaders to detail exactly why it's going to take them 10 years to build the
resilient electrical system we should already have, so that power shutdowns
are truly a rare, last resort."

The California Senate opened its own investigation into how PG&E handled the
shutoff on Thursday.

Molly Peterson contributed to this report.





California Regulator Slams PG&E Over Electricity Shut-Off By The Associated
Press Oct. 18, 2019

<https://www.facebook.com/dialog/feed?app_id=9869919170&link=https%3A%2F%2Fw
w
w.nytimes.com%2Faponline%2F2019%2F10%2F18%2Fus%2Fap-us-california-power-shut
off.html&smid=fb-share&name=California%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%2
0Electricity%20Shut-Off&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnyti.ms%2F2Bmugy9&text=C
a
lifornia%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%20Electricity%20Shut-Off>
<mailto:?subject=NYTimes.com%3A%20California%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20
O
ver%20Electricity%20Shut-Off&body=From%20The%20New%20York%20Times%3A%0A%0ACa
lifornia%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%20Electricity%20Shut-Off%0A%0AC
alifornia%27s%20top%20regulator%20excoriated%20top%20executives%20of%20the%2
0state%27s%20largest%20utility%20even%20as%20Pacific%20Gas%20%26%20Electric%
20repeatedly%20said%20they%20know%20they%20failed%20to%20meet%20public%20exp
ectations%20when%20the%20company%20cut%20the%20power%20to%20more%20than%202%
20million%20people%20last%20week.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Faponl
ine%2F2019%2F10%2F18%2Fus%2Fap-us-california-power-shutoff.html>
SAN FRANCISCO - California's top regulator excoriated top executives of the
state's largest utility even as Pacific Gas & Electric repeatedly said they
know they failed to meet public expectations when the company cut the power
to more than 2 million people last week.
Marybel Batjer, president of the California Public Utilities Commission,
called the emergency meeting Friday and ordered the executives to attend and
explain themselves. She said she was "absolutely astounded" by what she
thought were simple preparedness steps the utility could have taken.
"You guys failed on so many levels on pretty simple stuff," Batjer said.
PG&E officials, even as they repeatedly apologized for their shortcomings in
execution, defended their decision to cut power to more than 700,000
customer accounts in advance of dangerous winds that could have sparked
wildfires.
"We actually didn't have any catastrophic fires in northern and central
California; that was the sole intent," said Bill Johnson, CEO of PG&E Corp.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom has blasted the San Francisco-based utility for what he
called decades of mismanagement. Critics of the for-profit utility renewed
calls to break up the company.
For much of the meeting, which lasted more than four hours, PG&E executives
insisted they only had the public's safety in mind when they cut off power..
They promised to do better.
The company's website had 1.7 million user requests an hour when it normally
logs 7,000, officials said.
Andy Vesey, a PG&E executive, added that they did not think broadly enough
and underestimated the needs of their customers and local governments. "We
have to develop a mindset, or culture, of anticipation,"
he said.
PG&E announced around 2 p.m. on Oct. 8 that it would be shutting off power
at midnight to parts of northern and central California, saying that high
wind forecasts could damage equipment and spark wildfires.
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ADVERTISEMENT

Panicked residents stood in long lines at supermarkets, hardware stores and
gas stations, rushing to buy ice, coolers, flashlights and batteries to make
sure their cars had gas.
The outages paralyzed parts of a state that has the fifth-largest economy in
the world. Schools and universities canceled classes, and some businesses
closed. Customers complained of overloaded call centers and a website that
kept crashing.
"It's not enough to do better in the future, when the harms were predicted
and known," said Melissa Kasnitz, legal director of the Center for
Accessible Technology. "Real people experienced real fear."
Wildfires in California caused by downed power lines and other utility
equipment sparked fires in 2017 and 2018, including the Camp Fire last year
that nearly wiped out the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.
PG&E said Monday that its systems were damaged in more than 100 places, and
that those were spots that could have been a potential source of ignition
for a wildfire.
Johnson, the CEO, said the utility will get better with each new pre-emptive
outage as it works to upgrade its equipment so blackouts affect fewer
people.
On Friday, Johnson suggested to Gov. Gavin Newsom in a letter that state
leaders may want to consider having a state entity decide whether to shut
off power in the future. Johnson said at the PUC meeting that he was not
trying to offload responsibility, but that Californians may want to have the
discussion given deep skepticism of the utility's motives.
ADVERTISEMENT

As for Newsom's call for rebates to customers, Johnson said they are
considering the idea but that could set "a dangerous precedent that any time
the power goes out you might have some rebate or other thing."
Berkeley resident and disability rights advocate Marg Hall said Friday
before the meeting that the outages are more than an inconvenience for some
people with disabilities and the elderly.
"Friends, that even if their power wasn't shut off, suffered health
consequences from the stress of knowing that they were going to be
abandoned," she said.
On Friday, Newsom appointed Caroline Thomas Jacobs as the first director of
the state's new Wildfire Safety Division, which was created earlier this
year and tasked with approving utilities' wildfire mitigation plans and
connecting them with independent experts to assess the safety of electrical
equipment.
___
Associated Press staff writer Kathleen Ronayne contributed from Sacramento,
California.

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w.nytimes.com%2Faponline%2F2019%2F10%2F18%2Fus%2Fap-us-california-power-shut
off.html&smid=fb-share&name=California%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%2
0Electricity%20Shut-Off&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F>
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a
lifornia%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%20Electricity%20Shut-Off>
<mailto:?subject=NYTimes.com%3A%20California%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20
O
ver%20Electricity%20Shut-Off&body=From%20The%20New%20York%20Times%3A%0A%0ACa
lifornia%20Regulator%20Slams%20PG%26E%20Over%20Electricity%20Shut-Off%0A%0AC
alifornia%27s%20top%20regulator%20excoriated%20top%20executives%20of%20the%2
0state%27s%20largest%20utility%20even%20as%20Pacific%20Gas%20%26%20Electric%
20repeatedly%20said%20they%20know%20they%20failed%20to%20meet%20public%20exp
ectations%20when%20the%20company%20cut%20the%20power%20to%20more%20than%202%
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ine%2F2019%2F10%2F18%2Fus%2Fap-us-california-power-shutoff.html>




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