Newsom Details Changes Coming To PG&E
Sacramento, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom stated that positive changes are coming to PG&E as it emerges from bankruptcy, but there is also a “Plan B” if the company fails to make good on its side of the deal.
Newsom stated at a press conference this afternoon that PG&E is a new company, with a new CEO and a mostly new board of directors. It has a new wildfire safety division, and a fire advisory group. PG&E will be making major investments in vegetation management, updating the grid and hardening infrastructure. It will also be more precise with its planned power outages, and hopefully decrease the time and size of those events.
Newsom stressed, “If they are not performing on the expectations and the mandates that we have set forward, we have graduated sanctions, graduated oversight, and the capacity to break glass, what we refer to as ‘Plan B,’ if they simply are not doing their job.”
Newsom noted that a bill introduced in the legislature, by Senator Jerry Hill, could allow the state to takeover the utility, if needed wildfire prevention actions fail to occur.
