Fire and ice: PG&E’s Dixie Fire liabilities, snow outages show California utility unchanged

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. knew a major winter storm was coming to Northern California. Yet two weeks later, 11,000 homes and businesses in the Sierras remain in the dark, strung along in the freezing cold by a utility more accustomed to breaking promises than keeping them.

Californians barely raised an eyebrow this week when PG&E was found responsible for yet another wildfire — last year’s historic Dixie Fire. But adding a wintertime disaster to its list of liabilities is, at the very least, a new way to fail the customers who depend on them.

In an incredibly facetious press release on Dec. 22, the company indicated it was aware of the impending storm. Instead of preparing for the onslaught of snow and ice, it chose to share jokes about enjoying a “White Christmas” and how Santa Claus won’t “be the only blip seen on California radars” this winter.

Four days later, the company released a much more somber notice about its “all hands on deck response.” What a joke.

PG&E touted its “Storm Outage Prediction Model” that incorporates real-time weather forecasts, historical data and system knowledge. Yet Californians are left to wonder if PG&E employed any of these technological advancements to actually prepare or protect its customers.

Grass Valley resident Vicki Lorini told The Bee that PG&E was “far too slow to prepare for the storm and to restore power to residents, particularly for elderly residents forced to rely on volunteers to bring them food and other necessities.” It took more than a week before PG&E offered an estimate for power restoration, according to resident Elisabeth Jones, who said her family has resorted to urinating in a bucket filled with straw because their home needs electricity to operate its well-based plumbing.

At this point, it might be faster and more appreciated if the company invested in horse-drawn sleighs to deliver food, candles and firewood, since customers are being forced to resort to outhouses.

How long do we allow PG&E to keep failing California? What will it take for state leaders to finally protect their constituents, instead of sacrificing California residents, season after season, to the failures of this perfidious company?

If PG&E is willing to shut off active power lines in the Sierras to avoid starting wildfires in the summer, it should be equally as capable of responding to dangerous winter weather conditions. Prioritizing reliable energy service is more important than avoiding liability, no matter the weather.

How can we expect PG&E to care about the electricity in Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties when it is busy being accused of causing yet another megafire in Butte, Plumas and Lassen? It is apparently too much for the company to hold off on raising rates while lobbying regulators to axe rooftop solar, one of the few programs that would allow Californians to to access clean energy while saving money on their monthly bill.

PG&E still appears more concerned with dodging consequences than doing what is best for their customers. Time after time, California is left dealing with the sometimes deadly consequences of a company motivated to serve its investors and mitigate its liabilities, while worsening the state’s climate-based disasters.

Again, we ask: How long will California let this utility giant get away with this?