PG&E Shutoff: County Estimates As Much As $15M In Lost Revenue

SANTA ROSA, CA — Sonoma County employees relied on their own maps to determine where and how many residents would be affected by PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff last week, and they used their own data to contact vulnerable individuals in the county, according to a preliminary report by the county's Department of Emergency Management.

The two-hour preliminary report to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning by the Department's director Christopher Godley and other department heads contained details of PG&E's shortcomings and failures in the shutoff that affected 195,000 people in the county.

"There were imperfections in PG&E's maps," Sonoma County Permit and Resources Management Department director Tennis Wick said.

PG&E had estimated 66,000 customers in Sonoma County would be affected, Wick said.

"We needed to know how many people that would be," Wick said.

The initial estimate of 66,000 customers and 262,000 residents dropped to 63,000 customers and 195,000 people without power during full activation of the shutoff, he said.

Wick said the county relied on its own maps detailing the areas that would lose electricity after PG&E's website containing that information crashed.

"Eighty percent of those forecast (to lose power) did lose power," Wick said.

PG&E has a "medical baseline list" containing the names of 1,865 vulnerable people living in Sonoma County, but the county's Department of Human Services' In-Home Supportive Services' employees contacted 1,302 of them, 543 directly and 759 by leaving a message about the power shutoff, Department of Human Services director Karen Fies said.

"A lot of them were older adults and there was confusion. We needed power and there were no resources for these individuals," Fies said.

"These were not our clients," Fies said told the Board of Supervisors.

PG&E's list also included 179 people, six of whom had died, and others' whose phones were disconnected, according to Fies.

Supervisor Susan Gorin said her Sonoma Valley constituents complained that there was no wind on Wednesday when PG&E shut off power because of the dry, windy forecast for wildfire prone areas in more than 30 counties.

"Our residents don't have any faith in what triggers a power shutoff," Gorin said. "They pulled the plug a day early. I give failing marks on PG&E's communication," Gorin said.

Emergency Management Director Chris Godley said the county relied on a National Weather Service meteorologist who provided wind speeds at 40 locations in the county beginning Wednesday, the period of greatest danger.

The highest wind speed of 77 mph occurred on Mt. Saint Helena.

Some gusts in the county reached 50 mph but most areas' wind speeds were 30-40 mph, Godley said.

There are dozens of weather stations that measure wind speeds in the county, Godley said.

The Sonoma County government's response entailed 2,500 hours and cost an estimated $315,000. The response by schools, cities, towns and other agencies countywide is estimated at $1.3 million, according to the preliminary report.

The county is inviting residents and businesses to respond to surveys about the power shutoff. A preliminary estimate of lost revenue during the first 24 hours of the shutoff is $6.5-$15 million.

Godley said more than 3,000 residents have responded to the survey.

"The key is to document our experiences. It gives us a story to bring to the decision-makers," Godley said.

"The feedback has been profoundly negative to PG&E. De-energization is not going away," Godley said.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins warned against complacency once the outrage over the outage wanes over the coming months. She said PG&E failed to harden its infrastructure and manage vegetation near its power lines.

"We have to keep the conversation and pressure going," Hopkins said.

"This story is far from over. There are political implications and the California Public Utilities Commission has to truly regulate PG&E," Supervisor David Rabbitt said.

"They knew what they needed to do and they just didn't do it. This was a massive failure and not on our part," Supervisor Shirlee Zane said.

PG&E CEO Bill Johnson has acknowledged the utility company's communication problems, inconsistent maps, crashing website and overwhelmed call centers.

"We were not adequately prepared to support the operational event. This will improve," he said at a news conference."

— Bay City News Service