California power outages spark outrage
Between October 9th and 12th, 2019, Pacific Gas and Electric shut off electricity in 29 counties in Northern California. This outage affected somewhere around 2.5 million people and came with little notice. This sent residents of Northern California scrambling to acquire all that they would need to weather the blackout, which was originally scheduled for an unknown length of time. Some customers received as little as five hours’ notice before their lights went out and their appliances became useless. These outages led to great inconvenience, difficulty, and desperation in what is supposed to be one of the most advanced and wealthy corners of the country and the world. Some even likened the shut-off and the resulting fallout to a scene out of some kind of dystopia.
The utility company PG&E elected to shut off these power lines in Northern California off in order to avoid being found responsible for more wildfires that could result from the intense Santa Ana winds and the old equipment that PG&E runs their grids on. PG&E has years of repair backlogs that have gone largely unaddressed despite the mounting threat of fire in California and increasing calls for change after their history of destructive negligence such as the gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that killed eight people. The company has even been deemed responsible for causing California’s deadliest fire to date, which killed 86 people and razed the city of Paradise to the ground.
PG&E is facing tens of billions of dollars in fines from their involvement in past wildfires and declared bankruptcy in January. The history of mismanagement and by PG&E has led many local municipalities and towns to look into buying their own power grids from the utility company, but many of these offers and inquiries have been rejected by the utility giant.
With the continued threat of wildfires in the state of California, PG&E has stated that it does plan to continue its policy of scheduled power outages. Utility companies are expected to be convenient, helpful, and efficient. PG&E has failed to meet these standards; hurting not only their business, but the millions of people that depend on them for their day to day life.
Joseph Doner - Political Editor