Newsom slams PG&E over electricity outages

LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom tore into Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Thursday, calling the mass power outages “unacceptable” and the result of the bankrupt utility’s own long legacy of mistakes.

“What’s happened is unacceptable. And it’s happened because of neglect. It’s happened because of decisions that were deferred, delayed or not made by the largest investor-owned utility in the state of California and one of the largest in the nation,” he said at a news conference. “This current operation is unacceptable. The current conditions and circumstances are unacceptable.”

For parts of Thursday, more than 1 million Californians remained without power after the state’s largest utility shut off electricity in an attempt to prevent windblown power lines from sparking devastating wildfires. PG&E said late Thursday that 738,000 customers remained without power and that it was restoring service in many areas.

Newsom said PG&E’s failure to maintain its system created the need for the outages.

“It’s decisions that were not made that have led to this moment in PG&E’s history and the state of California as it relates to our major investor-owned utility,” Newsom said. “This is not, from my perspective, a climate change story as much as a story about greed and mismanagement over the course of decades. Neglect. A desire to advance not public safety but profits.”

Responding to widespread criticism over the blackouts, the utility’s chief executive, Bill Johnson, said he was focused on PG&E’s future, not it’s past. He joined the company in April.

“I didn’t come here to deal with the past. I came here to help improve the future,” he said. “I haven’t delved into all those matters.”

Residents had already rushed to empty store shelves looking for batteries and water and had lined up for gas to prepare for the looming outage. They did laundry, ran dishwashers and vacuumed, fearful they would not have power for several days. Some stuffed refrigerators and freezers with ice so they would stay colder longer. Others emptied food into coolers.

But their lights stayed on, while their frustrations mounted.

The steady alerts that power would be shut off at specific times — only to have it remain on — proved more unnerving than the actual loss of electricity for some.

Mary Carey, a lawyer who lives in a wooded East Bay community, compared the situation to knowing a “meteorite is on the way, but it won’t hit for 12 hours.”

Kevin Marker, 66, a retired businessman, had another take: “I think PG&E is just getting back at people.”

By Thursday morning, the utility had finally turned off power to customers in Alameda, Alpine, Contra Costa, Mariposa, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties.