Storm aftermath: most fare well, costly for PG&E

The recent series of storms caused inconvenience for many who
waited for power to come on and a lot of damage, but locals
persevered and those who suffered damage can now go about the job
of fixing damage and getting recompense from the power company.
According to PG&E spokeswoman Jana Schuering 2,557,051
customers lost electricity system-wide over the course of the worst
of the outages. PG&E will be offering refunds through the
company’s Safety Net Program. The so-called Storm Inconvenience
Payments are in increments of $25, to a maximum of $100, and
payment levels are based on the length of the customer’s
outage.
From 48 to 72 hours, there will be a refund of $25; 72 to 96
hours $50; 96 to 120 hours $75; and customers out of power for 120
hours or more can receive $100.
According to the PG&E web site, “the program’s intent is to
acknowledge the particular inconvenience to those residential
customers who are without power for 48 hours or longer due to
severe events such as storms. This voluntary program is paid for by
Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s shareholders, not by its
customers. Payment is issued generally 45 to 90 days after the
event.”
Despite the scope and length of power outages, Shuering said
that customer response has been mostly positive.
“We want to thank our customers for their patience following
last week’s severe winter storms,” she said. “PG&E employees
worked around the clock to quickly and safely restore electric
service and we want to thank our customers for their support.”
As of Jan. 10 PG&E reported damage to 862 poles, 1,067
transformers, 798 miles of wire, and 1,217 crossarms. According to
Schuering, restoration efforts have an accumulated cost of
approximately $20 million thus far, but she anticipates that costs
will increase, accounting for “mutual aid, contract work, and storm
restoration work once it is completed.”