PG&E shut-off: Your food is spoiled, business shut down--can you file a claim with the utility?

[intrepidity]

Surprise! No.

Have fun if you are poor and lose your fridge's contents

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/PG-E-shutoff-Your-food-is-spoiled-business-shut-14502325.php

It’s been three days, your power is still out due to dangerous fire weather and you’re forced to dump your spoiled spaghetti and meatball leftovers and the rest of your perishables. Your neighbor’s restaurant has been closed and he’s lost $3,000 in business.

Can either of you get reimbursed?

The answer is — no. Pacific Gas & Electric has many variables that factor into when it issues a Public Safety Power Shutoff. It’s a nuanced decision. But what is black and white is the utility’s policy not to reimburse customers for losses during an outage.

“We do not reimburse customers for losses, as power will be shut off for safety when gusty winds and dry conditions, combined with a heightened fire risk, threaten a portion of the electric system,” said spokeswoman Mayra Tostado.

[Garrett78]

1. And the latest is our power will be off until at least noon tomorrow.

Grrrr.

[2naSalit]

2. Just one of the perks of

having monopoly owning your alleged services. We need to go back to the publicly owned utilities, this is one example of why. And, lest we forget Enron....

[still_one]

4. Are you from California? DO YOU KNOW WHY THIS IS BEING DONE?

This isn't related to what Enron did, or whether PG&E is a public utility or not

[2naSalit]

16. Lived there several different times

and yes, I get it about the Santa Ana winds and the drought and the fires and the losses and also the way PG&E does business. They are not necessarily your best bet.

And I also get how this situation came into being and you should think about how the major, privately owned unities have managed to keep gaining revenue yet never seem to have any interest in maintaining their stuff which comes back around to why they decided in their ultimate and unmatched wisdom to just shut down half the state.

[still_one]

22. All that you say has nothing to do with Enron. Enron engaged in creating artificial

shortages as a price gouging scheme

Also, the second set of power shut offs was cancelled today because the high wind forecast didn’t develop, which is just and aside from me, not related to what we are discussing

[Cattledog]

3. This should increase solar sales.

[hunter]

6. Nah, it will increase fossil fueled backup generator sales.

That's the way people roll all around the world wherever power is unreliable.

Harbor Freight here we come!

[still_one]

7. Not because of this. Generator sales perhaps. This is being done to fix infrastructure issues with

Arching and other issues that were susceptible to sparking fires

As for solar, the California legislature has a bill requiring new homes built in California to be equipped with solar

Most solar in the US today does not store energy. If power is cut from the grid, the solar supplying the power will stop also

[in2herbs]

10. Unless you install a BUCS system with your solar if the power company PG&E puts you off line

you have NO power regardless of how many solar panels you have.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Watch for the State of

California ending up owning this Pig.

[alwaysinasnit]

8. We're damned if we do (buy this pig) and damned if we don't.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. You know darn well PG&E

will do their best to try and run the BK clock. Knowing full well they cannot pay the those Damage Claims.

California State Legislature will pull the plug on these Guys Shortly after today's power cut offs. Understand PG&E has not done much Maintenance in their Power Line Corridors.

[alwaysinasnit]

12. Seems to me that PG&E's parent company is trying to leverage this situation (beyond bleeding

PG&E dry so there is no $$$ for adequate maintenance). There is public pressure for the state to do something about this untenable situation. As for the parent company, it can either let PG&E get torn up in bankruptcy court and cut it's losses and the massive liability tied to PG&E, or entice the state to buy it. This situation is complex and I don't pretend to know all the in's and out's, but there is no doubt our state is between a rock and a hard place. And we the residents will likely end up footing the bill in the end.

[Demonaut]

11. time for a commercial backup generator, cost about $6k

[intrepidity]

14. Folks who can afford a generator

Can *probably* afford to lose some food to spoilage.

It's all the others I'm concerned for.

[roamer65]

13. If one person dies due to this shutoff, try the board and all the executives for murder.

This is where nationalization comes in handy. Go for it, CA. Turn it into the greenest utility in the world.

[Demonaut]

15. and if they cause a fire and 75 people die, like last time, sue them for premeditated murder?

because they really know now, that powerlines cause fires

[2naSalit]

17. Wasn't it

ronnie raygun who said trees cause fires?

[roamer65]

20. ..

[Garrett78]

18. Word is we may have power again tonight. Not holding my breath.

[roamer65]

19. I'd take all the spoiled food and dump it on the steps of the nearest PG&E office.

[NickB79]

21. Welcome to the world of catastrophic climate change

It's no longer out on the horizon anymore.