"Two recent fires at PG&E substations cut power to thousands, drew condemnation from members of Congress, and spotlighted a year full of safety and maintenance violations at the utility giant's substations throughout the region, from oil leaks to broken cooling fans and birds' nests in equipment. A substation fire Dec. 20 in San Francisco knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers some for more than two days paralyzed many Waymo robotaxis,"
"PG&E has underinvested in safety, South Bay Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said after looking at audit results. This just confirms that we need to make PG&E a California customer-owned utility, not investor owned. The utility said in a statement this week that it is committed to adhering to compliance standards, taking immediate corrective actions when issues arise, and operating in a manner that prioritizes public and coworker safety."
Two PG&E substation fires in late December caused widespread power outages, impacting more than 100,000 customers in San Francisco and 16,500 in Saratoga. The Dec. 20 outage left many without power for over two days and disrupted services such as Waymo robotaxis; the utility's new CEO pledged $50 million in compensation. Both incidents are under investigation. 2025 state audits of Bay Area substations found missing fire extinguishers, oil leaks, broken cooling fans, loose wires, missing bolts, and birds nesting in equipment. Lawmakers criticized underinvestment in safety; the utility reported taking corrective actions and committing to compliance.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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