Consumer agency wants PG&E fined $166 million for botching California wildfire blackouts

California’s official advocate for utility ratepayers wants to have PG&E fined $165.7 million for mishandling a series of deliberate wildfire-safety blackouts last fall.

The Public Advocates Office of the California Public Utilities Commission said the commission should punish PG&E Corp. for failing to adequately warn hundreds of thousands of customers, including those relying on reliable electricity to power medical devices, about the October 2019 so-called public safety power shutoffs.

In a legal brief filed late Friday with the commission, the advocates said the blackouts were “a major public safety failure. PG&E put the lives of many vulnerable customers at risk, and either failed in or disregarded, its obligations to public safety partners, local agencies, and essential service workers.”

The blackouts — including three in one week — were a major debacle for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which was already struggling through bankruptcy proceedings because of liabilities from the 2017 and 2018 wildfires. The size and duration of the shutoffs, engineered as ferocious Diablo winds rolled through Northern California, infuriated customers, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials.

In particular, PG&E was poorly prepared for the first blackout, in early October 2019, and its call centers and website were overwhelmed by customers seeking information.

What’s more, the blackouts weren’t entirely successful in preventing wildfires. A transmission line that had been kept running in the Geyserville area sparked the Kincade Fire. The fire destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 Sonoma County residents. PG&E at the time said it wouldn’t shut off transmission lines — which carry power in bulk over long distances — because they’re located higher off the ground and less dangerous than neighborhood distribution lines.

PG&E has told investors that liabilities from the Kincade Fire could reach $625 million.

PG&E has already given refunds to the 738,000 customers affected by the first October 2019 blackout — the incident in which its website crashed and communications broke down. The refunds amounted to $122 per customer, or a total of nearly $90 million.

The utility has imposed five deliberate blackouts this fall as fierce winds raised wildfire dangers. But the shutoffs have affected far fewer customers, in part because PG&E has deployed “sectionalizing” technology that enables it to reduce the geographic footprint of the outages. At the same time, the company is more aggressive about shutting off transmission lines during windstorms.

Responding to the Public Advocates’ demand for a fine, PG&E said that while the October 2019 blackouts “could have been implemented better,” the utility’s mistakes don’t warrant a fine.

“We have taken, and continue to take, responsibility for our shortcomings,” the company wrote in a statement to the commission.