By Loretta McCarty
Power outages that left much of Saratoga in the dark for a week during last winter's storms prompted Mayor Paul Jacobs to raise questions about Pacific Gas & Electric's quality of service in the face of disaster. Now, he is encouraging other cities to support state Senator Byron Sher's proposal to require the Public Utilities Commission to adopt guidelines for better service.
"The reliability of electric and gas service is a necessity, not a luxury," said Jacobs at a June 7 press conference at Saratoga City Hall.
To "send a message" to the PUC, Sher included language in the proposed 1996-97 state budget that would order the commission to create strict guidelines to either prevent or minimize service interruptions due to storms, earthquakes, fires and other disasters for electric-power providers. The commission will report to the state Legislature on the adoption of these standards by Jan. 1, 1997.
Sher said the commission established telecommunications standards 30 years ago, but there remains an "absence of any standards or guidelines that are binding on the electric utilities." He declined to say what those guidelines should be, saying, "It's the job of the PUC to set up guidelines."
PG&E does not have "any formal objection" to Sher's recommendations, said spokesman Scott Blakey.Jacobs has been working with PG&E since January to improve the quality of service for Saratoga. The utility has agreed to assign a representative to City Hall during major power outages to help coordinate restoration efforts, to increase tree-trimming, to work with and train city and county personnel to identify and report potentially hazardous power-related situations, and to make more personnel available for restoring power.
"I'd like to say that we have no bone to pick with the PG&E repair crews--this is clearly a problem for management and their decision to cut back on their work force," Jacobs said.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, June 19, 1996.
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