PQ: Assemblymember Marc Levine announced a plan to increase oversight of the utility by creating legislation to install a “responsible adult in the room to right PG&E’s wrongs.”

Once again, PG&E’s impact on the public has brought it a massive amount of negative attention.

On Monday, as the Kincade Fire continued to rage, the investor-owned utility’s stock price tumbled. A weekend of fire, widespread power shut offs and the evacuation of approximately 185,000 North Bay residents, many from Sonoma County, is the latest debacle for the bankrupt utility and its customers.

Approximately 960,000 customers across the state, including hundreds of thousands in the North Bay, sat without power due to a widespread Public Safety Power Shutoff instituted by the utility.

In recent weeks, state politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have been more inclined to publicly criticize the state’s largest utility while Wall Street players continue to consider whether they’re interested in purchasing the utility.

But this week has already brought multiple competing proposals by California lawmakers to drastically change the future of the utility.

Adult in the Room

On Monday, Assemblymember Marc Levine, whose district covers Marin County and the southern half of Sonoma County, announced a plan to increase oversight of the utility by creating legislation to install a “responsible adult in the room to right PG&E’s wrongs.”

Under Levine’s legislation, which he plans to introduce in January 2020 when the state legislature returns, the California Public Utilities Commission would create a test to determine whether a Public Administrator should be appointed to oversee PG&E.

The CPUC’s test would include “an analysis of PG&E’s financial health, the reliability of the utility’s infrastructure and its safety record,” according to a statement from Levine’s office.

“The Public Administrator would be authorized to work with PG&E leadership and make decisions necessary to restore critical infrastructure, ensure that proper safety protocols are followed and increase public confidence in the utility,” according to the statement

Although the scope and powers of the role have not yet been fully defined, the Public Administrator would be something like that of an emergency manager appointed when a school board declares bankruptcy, Levine said in an interview with the Bohemian.

The Public Administrator would remain in place until PG&E reached requirements of the test created by the CPUC. If the utility failed to meet the CPUC’s requirements again sometime down the road, another Public Administrator could be appointed, Levine says.

Wall Street Brawl

Still, with two massive power shutoffs in October and that start of several fires over the weekend that may have been tied to PG&E’s equipment, the legislature’s January session seems like a long way off.

Meanwhile, financial interests appear ready to take over the bankrupt utility’s assets. In PG&E’s bankruptcy proceedings two groups of financial interests are battling over the chance to takeover the utility’s remains.

One group of bondholders, led by Elliot Management, known as an “activist investor” for its habit of using its stake in companies to push for management changes, has been clashing with major stockholders in the utility.

Now Berkshire Hathaway, an investment fund owned by Warren Buffett, may be in the running as well.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reportedly supportive of the idea of Berkshire Hathaway buying the utility, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

“We would love to see that interest materialize, and in a more proactive, public effort,” Newsom told the business publication. “That would be encouraging to see. They are one of the few that are in a position to make a significant run at this.

Levine was not as interested, saying that Buffett’s firm, nor any other investor would not single handedly save Californians from “years of misplaced priorities” by PG&E’s management team. Furthermore, Berkshire Hathaway has a track record of investing in dirty energy sources, including coal. In a state focused on reducing its impact on the climate, that is a cause for concern.

“Buffett’s utilities are some of the dirtiest in the country,” Levine said.

Woody Hastings, an energy program manager at The Climate Center, a Santa Rosa nonprofit which advocated for the creation of Marin Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Power, agencies that purchase their own mixture of power but still rely on PG&E’s lines to distribute it, called the governor’s reported endorsement of a possible Berkshire buyout “totally inappropriate.”

(DISCLOSURE: This reporter completed an unpaid internship at The Climate Center in the summer of 2013.)

In April, Buffett told CNBC, a business news channel, that reports that Berkshire Hathaway was interested in buying PG&E were “100 percent not true.” He has yet to comment on the Bloomberg report over the weekend.

Still, after a disastrous weekend for the utility and its customers, some analysts were speculating about whether any private bidders will still be interested.

PG&E has acknowledged that its equipment may have been involved in starting the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County on Friday and another fire in Contra Costa County.

On Monday afternoon, stock prices for PG&E Corporation, the publicly traded company that owns the utility, hit $3.80 per share, a new low.

Prior to the October 2017 fires, the company’s stock price briefly topped $70 per share in September 2017. The price has fallen with each successive debacle ever since. In January, the stock hit $6.36, then a historic low, when the utility announced bankruptcy.

Jared Ellias, a bankruptcy law expert at the UC Hastings College of Law, told the Sacramento Bee that the situation may be more volatile than the private investment players may have expected.

“Whether it’s turning the power off, or not turning the power off, PG&E can’t do anything right,” Ellias told the Bee. “That’s a much riskier investment than any of these guys thought.”

Meanwhile, a CitiGroup analyst told the bank’s investors that “the probability of a zero equity value continues to increase,” according to a MarketWatch report on Monday.

Still, the Sacramento Bee reported on Sunday that “a source close to the [PG&E] bondholders” said the group was still interested in bidding on the utility.

Watershed Moment

On Tuesday morning, U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna announced his support for a public takeover of PG&E.

“PG&E has been a disaster. When you have a state that has Apple, Google, and Tesla in it, there’s no excuse for not getting power to our people,” Khanna, who represents San Jose and nearby cities, said in a statement. “I’m calling on Gov. Newsom to support turning PG&E into a customer owned utility. We need to have more municipal public utilities providing energy.”

While the push and pull between those calling for a public takeover of the utility and those advocating for continued private ownership has been going on for over 100 years, the current moment may be historic, according to Hastings, the Climate Center energy analyst.

“PG&E is hugely vulnerable. This is a watershed moment,” Hastings, the energy analyst, said on Monday.

In the near-term, PG&E’s dangerous infrastructure needs to be replaced with modern equipment, including local electrical grids, energy storage infrastructure and production capacity, Hastings says.

“Every penny needs to be reinvested into making safety improvements, developing a 21st Century system, and combating climate change,” Hastings said.

In Hasting’s personal view, public ownership of some sort could help achieve those goals. Although existing publicly owned utilities in the state may not be perfect, they are designed to be responsive to people, not profit, Hastings says.

Gov. Newsom reportedly does not support a public buyout, and North Bay lawmakers appear to be somewhere in between.

On Oct. 18, State Senator Mike McGuire, who represent much of the North Coast, released a statement hinting at the need for bold action.

“PG&E has become too big and has failed us too many times. All options need to be on the table – including breaking up the utility,” McGuire said in the statement. His office did not respond to a request for comment about a public buyout of the utility.

On Monday, State Senator Bill Dodd, who represents parts of Napa and Sonoma counties, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was “intrigued” by the idea of making the utility into a public cooperative, a model proposed by the Mayor of San Jose.

Levine said Monday that he does not currently support a public buyout of the utility. PG&E’s aging infrastructure, including 90-year-old transmission lines in Marin County, would constitute a “massive liability” for anyone, public or private, who buys the utility, Levine says.

Levine also said that San Francisco’s recent offer to purchase PG&E’s infrastructure within the city would have amounted to an effort to “cherry pick the best infrastructure and easiest lines to repair.”

The city’s $2.5 billion offer, which PG&E rejected in mid October, could increase the burden on other PG&E ratepayers, Levine says.

Dodd is also opposed to the idea of cities like San Francisco buying chunks of PG&E’s grid, according to the Chronicle.

Instead, Levine said Monday that someone acting in his proposed Public Advocate role could help PG&E “refocus its priorities on safety and increase needed public confidence in this essential public utility service.”

Levine’s “adult in the room” would be in a position to guide PG&E to reinvest any shareholder profits into much-needed infrastructure improvements, according to Levine.

As authorities continue to monitor weather patterns, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick told evacuated residents not to expect to return to their homes today.

“Today’s probably not going to be a good day to talk about repopulation,” Essick said at a Tuesday morning press conference. “We’re going to have to wait and see how the winds behave [and] how the fire behaves before we can talk about repopulation… Although many people are anxious to get back, today is probably going to be a day that we pause consideration of repopulation.”

While the Kincade Fire did not grow significantly overnight it remains at approximately 75,000 acres and only 15 percent contained, according to Jonathon Cox, a Cal Fire representative.

Asked what residents in evacuation warning zones should expect, Sheriff Essick said that authorities “will extend evacuation warnings as needed” as they continue to monitor wind and weather patterns.

In addition to keeping track of the fire, North Bay residents should also be mindful of cold temperatures this week, said Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt.

“We are in a Code Blue advisory with freezing temperatures predicted for several nights this week,” Rabbitt said. “We encourage our residents, if you are in a car or an RV, that you are cognizant of the weather.”

A full list of emergency shelters along with other information is available at Socoemergency.org.

Up to 187,000 people have now been evacuated from Sonoma County, where over 66,000 acres of land has burned and still burning with only a 5 percent containment as of this reporting. While some can go stay with friends or family nearby, or take their RVs to safety, many must go to the evacuee shelters set up all over Sonoma Marin, Napa, and even Alameda.

For many of the evacuated, life was already difficult. Immigrant communities and people of color, in particular, experience additional impact in these kinds of emergency situations including immigrant Latinx women who make up much of the home care, domestic, healthcare, and hotel worker community.

“When fires hit, they are the most vulnerable,” says Mara Ventura, Executive Director for North Bay Jobs With Justice, which advocates for workers’ rights, “And for a lot of undocumented workers, a big impact is lost wages.”

One such group is home care workers.

“Many home care workers have been displaced,” explains Ventura. “Some are going with clients to the shelter, or they are home without electricity. Often, their clients are with their families during an emergency like this.”

Another impact is the fear of seeking services due to immigration issues. That said, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman said today that they received official assurance form the Department of Homeland Security that “Everyone seeking services or shelter from the immigrant community should do so with confidence that there will not be immigration enforcement activity.”

Other obstacles include the reality that for undocumented families, federal help is not available. For those families, Undocufund Fire Relief provides assistance to those who can’t otherwise receive help. According to their website, after the 2017 fires, Undocufund “distributed almost $6 million to undocumented families in Sonoma County impacted by the fires to support them in recovering and rebuilding their lives.”

Ventura is part of a network of community organizers who work with communities of color. They have organized to coordinate services for those in need, especially in emergency situations when they can fall through the cracks.

“There were many good lessons learned during the 2017 fire but it was hard to coordinate then. This time it’s been so much more connected. I really appreciate it and hope that in the debrief of this fire we plan to be even more coordinated with community organization and county efforts.”

They are now coordinating bilingual volunteers and childcare for families at shelters.

“Our biggest role right now is compiling a master volunteer list, mostly bilingual people—not just Spanish—whom we’ve been dispatching to the shelters.”

They are also coordinating with the Methodist church to ensure that the latest information gets to the homeless since they don’t always have smartphones.

To be added to the volunteer list for bilingual or childcare volunteer services or if you have a request for bilingual or childcare volunteers, you can email Ventura: ma**@*********wj.com Also those who are partially bilingual who want to help can contact her.

Even after the fire ends, volunteers are still needed. There is a need for so many things, including people to do cleaning, night shift volunteers, and bilingual volunteers.

“The shelters may be around for weeks or even months in the aftermath,” says Ventura, “and we need to have as large a list of people as possible so we can make sure volunteers have adequate rest and are able to have their normal lives too.”

Resources:

To be a bilingual volunteer, send your name, languages you speak and time and areas you are available to ma**@*********wj.com.

North Bay Jobs With Justice

North Bay Organizing Project

Undocufund Fire Relief
A resource for undocumented families who can’t seek federal assistance.

With all current evacuation orders still standing, Sherrif Mark Essick discussed the possibility of repopulating areas of Sonoma County that have been evacuated due to the ongoing Kincade Fire.

“We do know that you’re anxious to get home,” said Essick in a press conference this morning. The sheriff emphasized that the evacuations remain in effect but expressed empathy for those who have been displaced by what is considered a historic evacuation effort of nearly 185,000 residents.

“We are working on repopulation. I don’t have any announcements for you yet but I can tell you that the general idea is we will start in somewhat of the reverse order of evacuations when it comes to repopulation,” the sheriff said.

The sheriff reiterated the importance of the evacuations.

“It’s really first to protect your life. As you’ve heard me talk over the last couple of days, life is the most important thing. We have the ability to predict somewhat where this fire is going. So, we want to get people out in front of that fire to save lives.”

The sheriff added that evacuations not only save lives but help firefighters preserve property. He pointed to Cal Fire’s aggressive and successful attack on the fire in the northeastern area of Windsor last night as an indication that the evacuations are proving effective.

“We had a lot of success yesterday in Windsor. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our firefighters. The Northern area of Windsor was saved yesterday because of their efforts. And part of that is your efforts to evacuate allowed us to get in there and access that area. So thank you for following our directions.”

He added, “That is truly a success story.”

In the meantime, all current evacuation orders remain in full force and effect. The sheriff expects to have clarity on the repopulation timeline later today.