Power Outages Affect East Bay Communities

By Ethan Sims and George Song

Between October and November, hundreds of thousands of homes in Northern California were affected by power outages initiated by PG&E.

Many people had their daily lives thrown off course due to PG&E’s decision to turn off the power. These power outages had many economic repercussions, with an estimate of 2.5 billion dollars in commercial and industrial losses, according to calculations made by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Nexant.

Small businesses around Albany experienced losses as well. Amber Dinov, a special education resource teacher, expressed concerns about neighborhood businesses.

“There was less access to grocery stores, salons, restaurants,” Ms. Dinov said. “A Halloween parade was cancelled that would have led to an increase in revenue [and] sales.”

PG&E decided to shut off the power to reduce the risk that its equipment would start more wildfires. PG&E equipment has taken blame in the past for starting destructive wildfires that have ravaged the state. The company was financially penalized and publicly criticized for involvement in the Camp Fire of November 2018, the deadliest fire in state history.

Teachers and students around the community have been impacted by these power outages as well. Over 80 percent of 169 survey respondents knew someone who was affected or were directly affected themselves.

“I had to go to Burger King to do homework until 11pm,” sophomore Eileen Cai said.

Social studies teacher Karen DeHart complained that the recent outages were unnecessary and poorly planned.

“They should have warned people, [and] they should have monitored the weather more carefully. There was no reason in terms of weather to shut off the power,” Ms. DeHart said.

To prevent outages in the future, some critics suggest transitioning to underground transmission lines, although this option would cost more than 200 billion dollars according to Forbes. Another alternative is to create a system similar to San Diego Gas & Electric, which developed a network of battery-powered microgrids after the 2007 Witch Creek Fire. According to Forbes, the microgrids are more cost efficient and have less environmental impact.

“[PG&E] should have and must enhance their infrastructure. They’re a utility, [and] they should be monitored better by the state,” Ms. Dehart said. “It should be in good working order. The power lines: they’re old and can’t handle the weather.”