'It's infuriating': Millions of Californians suffer blackouts

On Tuesday, October 29, another series of power outages due to forest fires began throughout Northern California, leaving millions of people without electricity for 5 or more days.

Photo: instagram.com/losangelesfiredepartment

Fire brigades attempted to locate two large fires in Northern and Southern California that destroyed dozens of homes before the winds intensified again. The outages are aimed at preventing the ignition of electrical equipment as a result of forest fires. It is reported Yahoo.

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp said the outage would affect nearly 600 customers in 000 counties, or about 29 million people. The announcement came even before the end of the last power outage, which left more than 1,5 million people without power over the weekend.

After PG&E issued this warning, locals rushed to find ice and places to charge mobile phones.

On the subject: California forest fires: tens of thousands evacuated and massive blackout

Petaluma resident Scotty Richardson, whose power was cut off Saturday, said the prospect of going days without power is "infuriating." A local resident expressed his frustration with repeated outages over the past few weeks, as well as anger at the utility that has been responsible for deadly fires in the past and apparently some fires this season.

“PG&E can’t figure out how to reliably provide power without killing people,” he said. “More than three outbreaks is a failure of epic proportions.”

PG&E is in bankruptcy after its equipment was blamed for a string of catastrophic fires over the past three years. Its shares are down 24% on Monday at $ 3,80, and they are down more than 50% since Thursday.

Many Californians are skeptical about PG&E's motives for the power outage and argue that the business cares more about its finances than about the inconvenience it causes.

"It's so obvious that this is just to deflect responsibility," Janet Luoma of Santa Rosa said at a Red Cross evacuation shelter.

At a Santa Roses shelter, Chris Sherman charged his phone and laptop while he waited for permission to return home. He understood that as soon as he returned, he would most likely be left without light.

“They don’t seem to know what the hell they’re doing,” he said of PG&E. “I’m not sure they’re really protecting anything.”

Last week, the company reported that an unmounted transmission tower might have caused a fire in Sonoma County, which forced almost 200 000 people to evacuate.

PG&E said Monday that its power lines may have also set off two small bushfires over the weekend in a portion of the San Francisco Bay Area where the utility did not turn off power because the location was not designated as a high-risk location. the occurrence of a fire.

On the subject: Celebrity houses burn: California forest fires gain strength

In Lafayette, near San Francisco, where many people were left without lights on Saturday, locals criticized PG&E for its poor awareness of blackouts.

“Will we have light tomorrow or will we not have it tomorrow? We don’t know,” said Kelly Bitzer, who walked into a Safeway supermarket looking for an outlet to charge her phone.

“PG&E has spent millions of dollars giving bonuses to its executives, but they can't keep up with their infrastructure needs,” she said. "It's very frustrating."

As of Monday night, Southern California Edison has shut off about 800 people and warned that it is considering shutting down another 400 000 residents when the wind is getting stronger in the middle of the week. The company also faced a growing backlash from regulators and lawmakers.

Rep. Josh Harder, a Democrat from Modesto, said he plans to introduce legislation that would raise taxes on PG&E if the company pays bonuses to executives during a power outage.

The California Public Utilities Commission plans to start investigating blackouts that could lead to fines against PG&E if found to have violated any rules.

The commission said it also plans to revise the rules governing power outages, will try to prevent utilities from paying debts to consumers when the power is off, and will gather experts to implement improvements in power systems that could reduce outages in the next fire season.

“The state cannot continue to tolerate such widespread power outages without Californians having to endure the poor service that PG&E has demonstrated,” PUC President Maribel Batjer said in a statement.

On the subject: California Wildfires: Getty Center at risk, affected

PG&E has set up hubs where people can charge phones and laptops and receive free water, snacks, flashlights, and solar lights. In one of them, in Berkeley, several dozen people were sitting around, charging their phones, comparing failure histories and looking for information. Cellular coverage in parts of Berkeley was very uneven during the outage, and residents said they heard it was because the cell towers did not have backup power.

“It’s like, really? Has anyone thought about this? said Alexandra Cons, who lost her home in the deadly 1991 fire that ripped through the Berkeley hills.

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