Power outages to curb fire risk could increase, PG&E signals in Santa Rosa meeting

Disability advocates, city and county officials and utility customers voiced concerns to state regulators Friday in Santa Rosa over the effects of planned power outages to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

A representative of PG&E, which resorted to such outages once this fall and faces mounting liabilities over the role its equipment is said to have had in sparking deadly fires this year and last, said Friday the utility giant may expand its use of planned blackouts to curb fire risk in extreme weather.

Aaron Johnson, the PG&E vice president, also said the company needed to be quicker with restoring power in the aftermath of such outages and be mindful of the need to support its most vulnerable customers.

He characterized the decision-?making for planned outages as a mix of science and art.

“There are very challenging issues associated with a program like this,” Johnson said. “The answers are not easy. We do not have all of them as a company. We are learning and growing as we implement this program.”

Friday’s workshop at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building was hosted by the California Public Utilities Commission and included a pair of commissioners plus staff. It came amid mounting scrutiny of PG&E’s operations in connection with a wave of deadly and destructive Northern California fires, the worst of them in Butte County last month.

In the weeks before the Camp fire, amid similarly hot, dry and windy weather, PG&E conducted its first planned electricity shut-off, leaving some 17,500 customers in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties without ?power, some for up to three days. In the Sierra Nevada foothills, electricity was cut to an additional 42,000 customers.

No major fires were sparked in that period, but blowback was swift from some of the affected customers, including merchants and others left in the dark. Advocates for disabled customers vented that they were not given a greater say over how such outages were rolled out.

“The issue of losing my lifeline or my connection to technology is quite important because, quite honestly, my life depends on it,” said Barry Atwood, a Berkeley-based disability rights consultant who uses a respirator and an electric wheelchair. “I think it’s incumbent upon the company and the regulator of that company to think through this process and be very strong in creating a thoughtful plan to deal with it. The process should be proactive and should happen before the power goes out.”

Disability advocates questioned PG&E’s ability to alert at-risk groups before planned outages. They also asked about additional services and safeguards in such events, including loaner generators and temporary shelters.

“I like to say we were building the airplane as we were trying to fly it this year,” Johnson said of pre-emptive outages. He advised customers to prepare for such events as they would a flood or earthquake. “I don’t say that as an excuse, but just to say that we know there’s more that we need to do as we develop these programs.”

California regulators approved initial guidelines in July requiring that investor-owned utilities notify customers before an outage. Companies like PG&E must also contact the state commission that oversees utility operations once a decision is made to cut power, as well as file a report within 12 hours of restoring it.

Until this year, San Diego Gas & Electric was the only California utility that de-energized power lines during extreme fire conditions. State regulators approved initial guidelines for utilities in July, requiring notification of customers, the state PUC and submission of a post-outage report within 12 hours of electricity being restored.

But no policies exist to account for at-risk populations, including seniors, non-English speakers, people with disabilities and those who rely on electricity to run medical devices.

Richard Skaff, a Guerneville-based disability rights legal crusader, called the current approach inadequate.

“That’s a pretty clear statement of the way this is being put forward and managed,” he said Friday. “That is not an acceptable way of developing a program that has the kind of effects it has for people with disabilities. The most vulnerable in our populations should be included before the program is implemented instead of … the way it’s being done today.”

Officials representing Santa Rosa, Sonoma County and the state emphasized a need to work with utility companies to come up with long-term solutions to curb risk of catastrophic wildfires. Better communication with the public and properly functioning emergency alert systems are essential, they said.

“In a situation of de-?energization, we all are vulnerable to some degree,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey. “It’s not only disabled people who need to be the recipients of better information and better care as these events become more regular. We need to do better together to let people know what this means when the electricity goes off.”