Anger grows as utility struggles with blackouts
SAN FRANCISCO — As Pacific Gas & Electric shut off the power to prevent wildfires, it has failed to communicate with California officials, given conflicting accounts about when the lights would go out and advised people to get information “the old-fashioned way, through calling on a landline.”
The behemoth power company is still struggling to get it right, weeks after it started plunging millions into darkness to prevent strong winds from toppling power lines and igniting fires.
PG&E’s widespread power outages in October have sparked reprimands from state officials and growing anger as they stretch on for days in Northern California.
Millions of customers have been forced to endure without the needs of modern life. About 900,000 people remained in the dark Wednesday, some since Saturday.
“Northern California residents are exhausted. … And this is completely unacceptable,” said state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents vast swaths of areas still in the dark.
Winds calmed Wednesday, easing the dangerous fire conditions and allowing PG&E to shift its focus to getting electricity back on.
But the pain moved south, where several fires broke out amid howling winds in the Los Angeles area, forcing evacuations. The region’s utility, Southern California Edison, shut off power to 178,000 people.
Although PG&E shut off the lights four times this month, its equipment still may have ignited a massive blaze in Sonoma County wine country that has destroyed 94 homes and forced more than 150,000 people to flee.