California Governor Calls for Refunds From PG&E After Blackouts
October 14 2019 - 7:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Jim Carlton
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called for PG&E Corp.
to issue refunds to consumers and small businesses after last
week's shutoff of power to about two million Californians intended
to help avert potential wildfires.
Many across Northern California who lost power for up to several
days last week complained of financial losses, with some businesses
saying they totaled tens of thousands of dollars.
In letters to the company and top regulators, the governor asked
PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson to provide those affected
with an automatic credit or rebate of $100 per residential customer
and $250 per small business. The Democrat said the rebates should
be funded by shareholders of the bankrupt company, not
ratepayers.
Regulations don't require PG&E to cover losses related to
intentional blackouts, and the company previously has said it
generally won't do so, though it would consider claims case by
case. PG&E officials didn't immediately comment on the
governor's letter.
Mr. Newsom asked the California Public Utilities Commission,
which oversees PG&E, to undertake a comprehensive review of the
company's use of planned shutdowns. "We must ensure there is
accountability, especially when planning is poor or protocols are
not followed," Mr. Newsom said in a letter to Marybel Batjer,
president of the public utilities commission.
A spokesman for the agency said it hadn't yet fully reviewed the
letter and didn't have an immediate comment.
Mr. Newsom in his letter lambasted PG&E's handling of the
shutdown, citing a company information website that kept crashing,
call centers with long wait times and faulty notifications.
Mr. Johnson acknowledged in a press conference last week that
his company was "not adequately prepared."
Katherine Blunt contributed to this article.
Write to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 14, 2019 19:04 ET (23:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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