Sonoma County assessing economic impact of PG&E power shut-off

Sonoma County officials have launched an online business survey to determine the economic impact of Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s public safety power shut-off last week.

The survey, conducted by the county Economic Development Board, will be used to develop resources that can help businesses improve their response to future power shut-offs.

“We're trying to get a good scope of the positive and negative impacts,” said Lauren Cartwright, a spokeswoman for the Economic Development Board.

Earlier this year, the board asked Moody's Analytics to research the financial impact of a countywide power shut-off. Moody's calculated the losses could be as high as $35 million for a 24-hour power shut-off, based on data from a 2011 power outage in San Diego, coupled with FEMA data and methodology from blackouts caused by blizzards.

Using that model, last week's public safety outage - which lasted multiple days but did not impact the entire county - may have cost local businesses $6.5 to $15 million, the Economic Development Board estimated.

The new EDB survey, which went online midday Monday, could provide a much more accurate assessment of the financial losses from last week's power shut-off, Cartwright said. As of late Wednesday, the survey had received 273 responses, she said.

The survey poses a number of questions to local businesses, including whether they lost electricity, for how long and the estimated financial impact to their company. Businesses are also being asked if their employees lost wages and what, if anything, could have reduced the impact of the shut-off on their business.

County officials hope the survey will provide a road map that will help them better prepare for future outages. The survey can be viewed at www.surveymonkey.com/r/95D7FZY.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.