Who is to blame for PG&E outages?

Wanting to gain more useful information to “prepare a plan,” I went to the URL provided. It was a further disappointment. It required a code I was not given. Scrolling through the site, I found a phone number to call. Thankfully, a live person answered. The PG&E representative was understanding and offered that power at my address “may” come on in the next few hours but was scheduled to go out again at 11 p.m. The messenger was nice. Her message was not. The gist of it was: power going back on ... uncertain ... power going off at 11 p.m. ... certain.

My frustration and ire was raised at our government in Sacramento, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the executives at PG&E. Each, in my opinion, was to blame for creating this disaster.

The government in Sacramento is liable for myriad reasons. The main is how they set up oversight of PG&E. The five-member board of the CPUC is by appointment of the governor. Yes, the governor’s selections are confirmed by the state Senate but let’s be honest, has a candidate of the governor ever been denied? If the governor wants to pay back a political favor to someone, what is to prevent it? Certainly not a requirement of special expertise or qualifications. There are none. Who serves is almost entirely in the hands of a single person. Who serves as president of the CPUC board is the same. To my friends who say we are a “democracy,” would it not be better if the CPUC was directly accountable to the people of California? Would it not be better if the commissioners were elected? Considering their broad oversight of our state’s public utilities of electric, natural gas, telecommunications and water, as well as railroad, rail transit and passenger transportation, I believe it would be.

A second reason I lay blame on the state is its harebrained decision to only slightly open up PG&E’s state-sanctioned monopoly of selling electric power while leaving them responsible for the transmission lines. It is backwards. Instead, the state should take over the infrastructure required for transmission, much as they do roads and highways, and fully open up the market of buying and selling electricity. If a consumer wants electricity from a more “green” provider, let them choose it like they choose where to buy gas for their car.

Next I turn attention to the CPUC. Its website reads: “California’s economy depends on the infrastructure the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and utilities provide. For almost 100 years, the CPUC has worked to protect consumers and ensure the provision of safe, reliable utility service and infrastructure at reasonable rates, with a commitment to environmental enhancement and a healthy California economy.” How do you think it has done? Has it required PG&E to upgrade their technologies more aggressively to better ensure the safe and reliable transmission of power? Where is the strategic plan to target the most vulnerable areas as a first priority? Why is PG&E not required to set aside funding to implement such a plan? If a plan exists, why is it not advertised? Maybe this would change if, as recommended above, the CPUC were an elected body.

Finally, I aim my pen at the executives of PG&E who, the week before the fires in Northern California, were wining and dining not far from the site of one of the raging fires in the Wine Country. Yes, these are the same characters who awarded themselves bonuses. They are in the business of buying, selling and transmitting power and must be aware of the risks involved. Simply reading about Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla would inform a person of the dangers of transmitting electricity over power lines. It was, after all, the nub of the debate between alternating or direct current. So, despite what is written above, PG&E is left without excuse for not seeking and implementing ever more reliable technology to safely bring the power they sell to the consumer.

A former member of the San Carlos City Council and mayor, Matt Grocott has been involved in political policy on the Peninsula for 17 years. He can be reached by email at mattgrocott@comcast.net.