Pacific Gas and Electric Co. continued to maintain power shutoffs to hundreds of thousands of its customers in California on Oct. 10 after high winds and dry weather conditions prompted concerns that circuits could ignite wildfires.
Beginning at 12 a.m. on Oct. 9, PG&E shut off power to more than 500,000 customers and said it planned to continue cutting electricity to additional customers if necessary as severe winds moved south across the utility's service territory. PG&E initially projected that it would have to cut power to almost 800,000 customers, but only 730,000 ultimately ended up losing electricity.
According to the utility, improved weather conditions allowed it to complete safety inspections and restore power to 135,000 customers by late afternoon on Oct. 10.
News reports have painted vivid pictures of the outrage sparked when businesses and schools had to close and traffic became snarled due to a lack of working traffic lights. The outages also reportedly sent people scrambling to buy gasoline to fuel portable generators only to find that many gas stations were closed because pumps cannot operate without electricity.
Without refrigeration, people tried to find ice, but supplies of that precious commodity were limited as the stores that remained open sold out. Charging of cell phones and laptop computers was a challenge and batteries were stripped from shelves.
The states' utility regulators already are getting feedback on the ramifications of the proactive power shutoffs. During an Oct. 10 meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission, Mindy Spatt with The Utility Reform Network told the CPUC that the situation is intolerable, suggesting that the PG&E Corp. subsidiary was forced to shut off electricity to its customers because its power lines are unsafe.
"Obviously, people who are suffering from PG&E's shutoffs have bigger problems and can't be here today, but emails and phone calls are pouring into our office," Spatt said. "They're asking why they continue to pay top dollar for a service that is either going to burn them down or shut them off. Why do they have to take financial losses? Why do their schools have to close while PG&E continues to raise rates under the guise of safety they are unable to provide."
CPUC Deputy Executive Director of Safety & Enforcement Elizaveta Malashenko told the commissioners that the "weather events" that prompted the shut-offs have been moving through the state.
As the winds moved southward, Edison International subsidiary Southern California Edison Co. shut off power to some customers in six counties. "So at this point, it is still possible we will see the full 200,000 customers in SCE's territory [with the power shut-offs] we were projecting earlier," Malashenko said. Sempra Energy subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric Co. was projected to shut power to 32,000 customers late Oct. 10 and 11 but had not yet done so, she reported.
Malashenko said she and other PUC officials, along with representatives from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, have been providing assistance in PG&E's operations center.
Under PG&E's public safety power shutoff program, each mile of the impacted power lines must be visually inspected once the weather event has passed to ensure they are free from damage before being reenergized.
PG&E has deployed 45 helicopters to run aerial patrols and more than 6,000 workers to inspect and repair de-energized transmission and distribution facilities, Malashenko continued. "It is hard to predict how long power restoration will take. It depends on the amount of damage. The rule of thumb is 48 hours, but some situations could take longer."
Coordination lacking in responding to customers
Responding to a remark by Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen that the coordination of shutdown efforts with local and county governments has been disappointing, Malashenko acknowledged that challenges have arisen in that regard. The commission previously approved procedures for proactive shut-offs of utility lines in response to wildfire threats.
Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma asked if PG&E could call for mutual aid from other utilities.
"The sheer magnitude of PG&E's public safety power shutoff is indicative of the condition of the utility in terms of the hardening condition of poles wires, transformers and transmission lines and the maintenance or lack thereof of the system and vegetation management," she said.
Malashenko said the number of resources that can be thrown at the issue is limited. To some extent, having more people and equipment at its disposal would not allow PG&E to move any more quickly due to logistical constraints, such as limits on the air space for helicopters.
Commissioner Liane Randolph said a review needs to be conducted in the aftermath of this shut-off event in order to come up with "lessons learned" with respect to issues such as continued contact and outreach to customers. Spatt of TURN complained that customers frequently were unable to contact PG&E for information because inquiries overwhelmed the utility's phones and web site.
Stock prices plunge
Meanwhile PG&E Corp.'s stock price fell from an Oct. 9 closing price of $10.98 per share to close at $7.78 on Oct. 10 after Judge Dennis Montali, presiding over the proceeding in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, ended the company and its utility subsidiary's exclusive right to advance their plan of reorganization in favor of allowing an alternative plan proposed by bondholders and backed by wildfire victims. Multibillion-dollar wildfire damage claims are what drove the companies to seek bankruptcy court protection from creditors in Chapter 11 restructuring.
