PG&E says customer bill credits will apply only to the Oct. 9 outage event.
Utility says customer bill credits will apply only to the Oct. 9 outage event
PG&E intends to provide rebates only to customers affected by the intentional power shutdowns that began Oct. 9, the utility emphasized Wednesday — a declaration that emerged while the company labored to restore power to nearly 1.1 million customers affected by the two most recent deliberate blackouts.
As of Wednesday evening, roughly 123,000 customers whose power was shut off by the utility during two consecutive blackout events were still without electricity, Mark Quinlan, PG&E senior director, emergency preparedness and response, estimated at a news briefing Wednesday night.
PG&E disclosed that a total of 1.09 million customers were affected by those two events, which began, respectively, on Saturday and Tuesday. That means approximately 11% of the PG&E customers who were cut off from their electricity services in the two events were still without service Wednesday night.
It could take days to complete the restoration of power, with no precise estimate given. PG&E noted that it must inspect a total of 32,000 miles of power lines and that some of those are in exceedingly remote areas.
“Some locations require workers to travel on narrow access roads,” PG&E said. “In locations with no vehicle access, crews might need to hike in remote and mountainous areas to inspect equipment.”
PG&E said it has achieved 100% restoration for all power shutoff events in the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Madera, Mariposa, Monterey, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Siskiyou.
Because of blunders by PG&E in connection with a massive power shutdown that started Oct. 9, customers who were forced to endure planned electricity cutoffs during that event can expect to see automatic credits on their PG&E bills, a process that will occur over the next few months.
“We recognize the hardship caused by public safety power shutoffs in general and how those hardships were exacerbated by our website and call center communications issues related to the Oct. 9 event,” said William John
son, PG&E’s chief executive officer.
Customers whose electricity was intentionally shut off during the event Oct. 9-12 are eligible for the rebates — but customers affected by other electricity shutdowns, including the two most recent ones, won’t be in line for refunds, PG&E said.
“We are providing onetime bill credits,” said Tamar Sarkissian, a PG&E spokesperson.
The credits are expected to appear on the bills as a “customer satisfaction adjustment,” PG&E said.
The Oct. 9 shutoff was one of several in October that has left millions without power for days at a time. The utility is scrambling to reduce the potential that the company’s equipment or power lines might spark catastrophic wildfires, a forbidding prospect that could be exacerbated by the fierce windstorms of fall.
Roughly 729,000 customers were affected by the Oct. 9 power shutoff event, PG&E stated in an official filing with the state Public Utilities Commission.
That total included 636,000 residential customers and 81,000 business customers with commercial or industrial accounts, PG&E’s filing with the PUC said.
In addition, 11,300 customers listed as “other” also were affected by the power shutdowns, the formal report to the PUC stated.
PG&E agreed to provide bill credits of $100 for residential customers and $250 for business customers. That means PG&E might be providing an aggregate credit of $63.6 million for residential customers and $20.25 million for the business customers. If those listed as “other” each received bill credits of $100, that would add at least another $1.13 million.
Potentially, PG&E might have to shell out roughly $85 million or more in onetime bill credits, according to the customer totals in the PUC documents.
“Customers will automatically receive credits over their next two billing cycles,” Sarkissian said.
Wildfire hazards, the angst over deliberate PG&E blackouts, uncertainties about power restorations and questions about rebates — as well as the future of the utility — have occurred amid the forbidding backdrop of the company’s $52 billion bankruptcy proceeding.
In January, PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection while it attempted to reorganize its shattered finances, which buckled beneath a mountain of liabilities and wildfire-linked claims.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, in response to suggestions that California take over PG&E so the state government could become the provider of electricity and gas services in Northern and central California, noted that would be a mammoth endeavor.
In the bankruptcy filing, PG&E listed $51.69 billion in debts and $71.39 billion in assets. The most recently approved budget called for California to spend $214.8billion — which means PG&E’s debts amount to 24% of the state’s budget.
“For us to take over all the assets means taking over all the liabilities and the costs,” Newsom said at a news briefing in the Bay Area on Wednesday. The governor added that all options for PG&E’s future are being reviewed, saying, “We are gaming out every scenario.”