PG&E restores power after shutdown, promises to fix failed communications

After days of stinging criticism over its handling of an unprecedented power shutdown to deter wildfires, PG&E officials said Saturday that they had restored power to all but 2,500 customers across the state and promised to improve communication with their customers in any subsequent shutdown.

Full power was restored to the entire Bay Area by Saturday afternoon.

“We’ll get better in the next month and better in the next year,” PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said during a news conference Saturday.

“Communication to customers, coordination with state agencies, website availability, call center staff, that’s where you will see short-term improvements.”

With predictions of hot, dry windy weather, the utility embarked last Wednesday on what Johnson called a “monumental” effort to shut down power to 735,000 customers in 33 California counties.

By Saturday afternoon, power had returned to 99.5% of its customers.

The shutdown notices caused massive confusion about when and where they would take place and, according to some estimates, the outage caused billions in economic losses.

PG&E’S website crashed and its call center was overloaded.

“It certainly was not popular and was a hardship for many, and we absolutely hear that,” but it was necessary, Johnson told reporters.

Over the past several days, the utility sent out thousands of crews to inspect 25,000 miles of line across the state.

Displaying fresh photos of trees toppled on power lines, Johnson said that at least 50 pieces of equipment, including poles and power lines, were confirmed damaged by the heavy winds and 100 more may have been.

“Had that line not been deenergized,” Johnson said, it could have led to a “catastrophic outcome.”

The utility has learned lessons for its past failures, he said, and plans to fix them.

“We recognize that PG&E has given little reason for you to trust us,” Johnson said. “We intend to earn back that trust.”