CA Gov. Slams PG&E 'Greed,' Urges Inquiry, Customer Refunds

SACRAMENTO, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom took aim at Pacific Gas and Electric Company on Monday, as the utility giant faces mounting criticism for its handling of the Public Safety Power Shutoffs that left hundreds of thousands in the dark last week.

“Californians should not pay the price for decades of PG&E’s greed and neglect,” Newsom said in a news release. “PG&E’s mismanagement of the power shutoffs experienced last week was unacceptable."

During the shutoffs, PG&E's website frequently crashed and its call centers became overloaded, making it difficult for customers to get information about whether they would lose power and when it would be restored. PG&E CEO Bill Johnson admitted last week that the utility was "not adequately prepared" for the shutoffs, which were implemented to prevent the utility's equipment from igniting wildfires amid dry, windy weather.

Newsom urged PG&E to issue $100 rebates to residential customers affected by the shutoffs, and $250 to small businesses — "as some compensation for their hardships," he wrote in an open letter to Johnson.

Newsom also urged the California Public Utility Commission, which has already blasted PG&E, to conduct "a comprehensive inquiry and review of PG&E’s planning, implementation and decision-making process failures."

Johnson issued a response later in the day Monday, saying PG&E would "welcome the review of our PSPS plan, practices and actions," and noting that "no catastrophic wildfires" were started during the shutoffs.

Johnson stood by PG&E's decision to implement the shutoffs, though he admitted that "there are areas where we fell short of our commitment to serving our customers."

Beyond the utility's management of last week's shutoffs, critics have argued that the cuts should never have been necessary in the first place, suggesting that poor maintenance has played a role in the fires started by the utility's equipment — including last year's devastating Camp Fire.

PG&E also came under fire in 2012 after a CPUC audit found it had diverted money intended for safety operations and used it instead for executive bonuses and stock awards.

Last week's shutoffs were "the direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety," Newsom wrote.

The governor also said in his letter that PG&E had turned down advice and offers of assistance from various state emergency agencies in the run-up to the shutoffs. Johnson, though, said in his response that the utility had worked closely with the CPUC, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and Cal Fire.