San Jose mayor calls for more state oversight of PG&E

With the possibility of week-long power shutdowns looming this fire season, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is calling on state lawmakers to tighten oversight of PG&E.

The utility, which has been blamed for catastrophic wildfires like the deadly Camp Fire last year, has said it may have to proactively shut down transmission and distribution lines during hot, windy weather to avoid similar disasters. But Liccardo is concerned that PG&E has the authority to make that decision on its own and could have its shareholders and not the public in mind when making the call to cut power.

“We need to ensure that these decisions are made with the public’s interests in mind,” Liccardo said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

If the utility decides to cut power in San Jose for days on end, the mayor said, senior care homes with residents who rely on respirators could be at risk, some cellphones could have problems dialing 911, gas stations could shutter, and the street light network could go down, causing chaos on roads. Homes and restaurants could lose perishable food and indoor temperatures could rise to unhealthy levels.

“Those are all very serious impacts and they have life or death consequences,” Liccardo said, pointing out that multi-day blackouts in 2003 across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York led to dozens of fatalities and billions of dollars in lost business.

The mayor wants lawmakers in Sacramento to give a state agency like the California Independent System Operator or the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services veto power if the utility decides to cut power. And, he said, he wants PG&E to include local leaders and the public in those conversations.

In the meantime, San Jose formed an internal task force at the end of May to prepare for possible power shutdowns that includes the city’s Office of Emergency Management, the fire department, the parks department and other offices.

Ray Riordan, the director of San Jose’s Office of Emergency Management, said the city is evaluating where it could operate cooling centers and how it can get alerts out to residents about coming power cuts.

Riordan said residents should keep flashlights and batteries on hand, along with water, medication, food and a portable radio. Drivers should keep their gas tanks at least half full, he added.

“There could be limitations on power provided to cell towers,” Riordan warned.

PG&E said in a statement to the Mercury News that it take the safety of its customers seriously and urged people to sign up for alerts on its website or over the phone.

“We understand there are safety risks on both sides of the decision to de-energize our lines,” the company said. “It is not a decision we take lightly. We know how much our customers rely on electric service, particularly those with medical equipment. We also know that turning off the power affects first responders, and critical facilities. It will take all of us working together to keep our communities safe from wildfires given California’s rapidly evolving environment.”

Shutting off power, PG&E added, is one of a number of steps the company is taking, including “enhancing our vegetation management, hardening our electric system and completing accelerated and rigorous inspections of all electric structures in high fire-threat areas.”

If the company turns off power, it “will attempt to contact customers directly to provide early warning notification.”

Riordan and Lori Mitchell, the head of the city’s Community Energy Department, have a meeting with PG&E officials Tuesday to discuss the possible shutdowns.

“We’re in new territory,” Mitchell said, adding that it’s not common for utilities to “de-energize” proactively.

And, Mitchell said, while no one at the city wants something like the Camp Fire to happen again, the city is “extremely concerned” about the risk of a large, regional outage.

Liccardo agreed, pointing out that he’s not inclined to simply trust that a company that falsified records and granted millions of dollars in bonuses to executives even as it filed for bankruptcy will have residents’ best interests in mind.

“Trust us isn’t good enough,” the mayor said.

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Coronavirus economy: Meat prices skyrocket Liccardo acknowledged that conversations with lawmakers in Sacramento and leaders in other cities are in the early stages. It’s not yet clear whether there would be widespread support from elected leaders at the state level for such increased oversight. And no one knows whether San Jose will even see days-long blackouts this summer.

Still, the mayor said, he wants to get a conversation started.

“I don’t think people know just how severe the consequences may be,” Liccardo said. “We are sounding the alarm. We need to be ready.”

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