Man: Early, thank you for your patience.
-: Thank you for joining us today for a public briefing
from the Pacific Gas Electric Company on its readiness
for Public Safety Power Shutoff events this wildfire season.
Today's briefing from PG&E is the last in a series
of three public briefings we have held this week.
Having heard from San Diego Gas and Electric company
and Southern California Edison company earlier this week.
I am honored to have joining me today on the virtual dais,
representatives from the California Governor's Office
of Emergency Services, Director Ghilarducci
and the California Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection, Chief Porter.
As well as my fellow Commissioners,
Commissioner Rechtschaffen, Commissioner Guzman Aceves
and Commissioner Shiroma, welcome all.
In terms of the format for today's briefing,
following opening remarks on the dais,
PG&E's Interim President, Michael Lewis,
will provide an overview of PG&E's state of preparedness
for PSPS events this wildfire seasons.
We will then move onto discussions and questions and answers
with Commissioners and panelists on the dais
followed by public comment.
We are scheduled to conclude right around 12 noon.
For the public comment portion today,
which will begin around 11:20,
if you wish to make a public comment,
please dial into 800-857-197,
enter passcode 9899501 and press *1.
You will be placed into a queue and the operator
will take your name and organization.
There may be a delay from the time you press *1
to the time the operator asks for your information.
So please, be patient and stay on the line.
You will be called upon to speak when we get
to the public comment period in today's agenda.
And we will provide three minutes for each speaker.
I will keep my opening remarks brief
so that the majority of our time today can be used
to ensure the public is able to hear from PG&E
on their state of preparedness.
But since I'm sure a number of people listening today
were not able to join us
for the briefings earlier this week,
I hope you will indulge me as I cover a few topics
of importance I covered in the other briefing.
With climate change driven weather events,
our wildfire seasons are starting earlier and ending later
and they are persistently more severe.
Cal Fire shared with us on Tuesday
that there have already been over 6,000 wildfires
in California this year and it's only August.
After a dry winter and warm spring,
we are likely in store for a long
and difficult wildfire season.
These weather events when combined with negligent
maintenance of a utilities electrical system
can lead to disaster.
While the legislature and the CPUC are driving the utilities
to significantly plan and execute approaches
to reduce the risk of utility caused wildfires
through better planning,
grid hardening, education management,
one of the tools that is available to the utilities
is to shutoff power to the customers.
While shutoff are one tool available to the utilities
to protect public safety,
they are a measure of last resort
and I cannot emphasize enough it is absolutely imperative
that these shutoff events if and when
are executed safely and thoughtfully.
The importance of doing this is particularly critical
this wildfire season as we are also dealing
with COVID-19 pandemic which will complicate
and exacerbate the PSPS planning and execution challenges.
And which make the stakes of ensuring PSPS
is truly used only as a measure
of last resort that much higher.
The consequences of being without power.
The families who are working and learning from home
to the state's most vulnerable people
to the critical facilities supporting
our state's COVID-19 response,
the consequences are not merely questions of inconvenience.
They are questions of can I pay my rent this month?
Can I feed my family this month?
Can I power my medical equipment I need to live?
The impacts on people's lives of having
their power shutoff cannot be overstated.
PG&E and the other utilities have the obligation
to manage their grids responsibly
and they have the obligation to keep the safety
and wellbeing of their customers as their highest priority,
which is what this Commission expects of them,
with each decision they make in wildfire season.
The decisions PG&E made last fire season
to call PSPS events left 2,000,000 people without power.
Leaving that many people without power,
without giving them the information they need
has consequences for public safety.
So, while we can drive the point
that PSPS is absolutely a measure of last resort
and is not a sustainable approach
to reducing wildfire risk,
we must also ensure the if and when
they do decide to shutoff the power,
they're prepared to execute and communicate
to shutoff in a way that significantly minimizes the scope
and the duration of the events.
They must have planned and prepared so that people
are without power for the shortest amount of time possible,
are provided with enough notice and details
to make arrangements to ensure their families are safe
and that they are prepared to weather
the duration of the shutoff.
This is a minimum, this is what we saw PG&G
unable to adequately execute on last year.
This is what their customers deserve,
this is why we are holding these briefings this week.
PG&E's haphazardly implemented PSPS events
of last fall cannot be repeated.
It has been one of my and my fellow Commissioners
highest priorities coming out of those events
to ensure that CPUC takes every possible step
to drive all the utilities to do better,
to ensure that the power shutoff that is called this year
is initiated and executed in a way that considers
the best interests of all those impacted.
CPUC's staff at our sister agencies at Cal OES
and Cal Fire has spent countless hours meeting with PG&E
and other utilities at overseeing their efforts
to reduce the use, scope and impact of PSPS events.
The utilities have made progress.
I want to acknowledge and share my appreciation
for the efforts that have mobilized so many frontline
workers across the utilities
to implement the improvements needed
following the learnings from last year's event.
However, it all comes down to how you execute.
Of my concerns regarding utility preparedness,
this is my greatest concern.
And today I expect to hear specifics on PG&E,
on how they will pull all the elements together
to execute the PSPS events effectively.
As I said last year, you will be judged
by outcome and not by plans.
The safety and wellbeing of Californian's depend on this.
We are in August with the pandemic
that is not going away anytime soon.
SCE has already called a PSPS event.
Weather events are only going to become more severe.
We need to understand today from PG&E, are you ready?
With that, I will say that I'm very much looking forward
to hearing from PG&E today.
I will now turn to the representatives from Cal OES
and Cal Fire for any opening remarks
you would like to make.
Director Ghilarducci.
-: So, thank you President Batjer
and I'm happy to be with you today.
First of all, I just wanna start off by saying
it's been quite a year, not withstanding the massive
commitment and the response to COVID
and the impacts on the state of California.
The California Office of Emergency Services
working with our partners at CPUC and Cal Fire
continue to lead a bi-monthly operation
planning group meetings with the investment on utilities,
which included the opportunity for our IOUs to highlight
their progress in addressing and mitigating fire risk
by reducing the scope and reducing the timing
of potential PSPS events in 2020.
As well as their efforts around the development
of incident command system training,
the integration of resources, better terminology
to better align with the public safety community
within the state and making sure
they had a trained workforce.
We have continued at the Office of Emergency Services
to support the IOUs with training support
for their emergency management workforce in the area
of the standardized emergency management system,
which included a number of things like exercises
and standardized training modules.
The Office of Emergency Services is now really,
I would characterize as cautiously optimistic
that the IOUs have made good progress in meeting
and working towards the metrics that they have set
in the wildfire mitigation plans for hardening systems
or increasing the situational awareness tools
to be able to get a good assessment
for vegetation clearance and management
and for bringing new tools associated with sectionalization
and generation online to reduce the number of customers
that would be impacted.
We believe that the IOUs have made progress.
But of course, as Secretary Batjer mentioned,
we agree, executing and the management
of a PSPS event we'll be telling.
And we are hopeful that we will see smaller,
more focused PSPS events in 2020
that do not cause the same longterm,
really significant impact on all Californians
that we saw in 2019.
So, happy to be here today and we'll be following up
with some additional questions.
-: Thank you so much, Director Ghilarducci.
Chief Porter, do you have any remarks you'd like to start
off the morning with?
-: Thank you, President Batjer,
and thank you for holding these briefings.
In the order of keeping a consistent program,
I am going to pass this to Chief Berlant
for our opening comments.
-: Thank you, Chief Porter.
Good morning, President Batjer, Commissioners.
Again, Daniel Berlant,
Assistant Deputy Director with Cal Fire.
We have been continuing to work very closely
with the Public Utilities Commission
and each of the utilities in the development
of the wildfire mitigation plans.
Obviously our efforts are aimed
at reducing utility sparked wildfires
and mitigating the damage and destruction that they caused.
President Batjer, as you have mentioned,
it has already been a busy year for us and the outlook
for the rest of the year continues
to show heightened fire risk,
above normal fire potential for much
of Southern California as well
as parts of Northern California.
Dry conditions, wind events.
These are all things that we
as the fire service are preparing for.
But really our focus continues to be
the vegetation management efforts of utilities,
including PG&E becoming,
ensuring that they are in compliance
with those requirements because if compliance is met,
then the need for these type
of PSPS events is significantly reduced if not eliminated.
So again, a pleasure to be here,
looking forward to the presentation.
-: Thank you so much chief, appreciate that.
Now I'll turn to my fellow Commissioners.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen,
do you have any opening remarks you'd like to make?
-: No, thank you President Batjer.
-: Okay, thank you.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
-: No thank you.
-: Thank you.
Commissioner Shiroma?
-: Yes, thank you President Batjer.
I want to express my thank you to you for providing
this opportunity for us and for the public
to hear Pacific Gas and Electric on the preparedness
for the long, dry season and to hear our questions.
Since our experience, as you indicated of last year
of massive Public Safety Power Shutoff
in the Pacific Gas Electric territory.
The Commission had analyzed
and adopted additional protocols
and metrics towards designating PSPS as a last resort.
And certainly when used they can be
an essential wildfire prevention tool.
But we recognize that they must be implemented
under the requirements of the Commission to make sure
that our most vulnerable and low income customers
remain safe and healthy.
I look forward to today's presentation
from the Interim President Michael Lewis and his team,
learning more about how they have learned from last year's
experience and how they are pivoting to provide safe
and reliable service amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
I also want to thank all of our safety staff
for the organization of these briefings,
in particular, Rachel Peterson,
Lee Palmer, Ian Bout and Carolyn Thomas Jacobs.
I also want to express my thanks to all
of the emergency services staff
who now have a 365 day a year job here in California,
all firefighters that are fighting fires as we speak.
What a dangerous job.
Also all the line crews,
all the vegetation management workers
who are working every day to provide
for a safe utility service.
Thank you, President Batjer.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Shiroma
and thank you for recognizing our staff
and the staff of Cal fire and the firefighters
as well as those hard working staff at the OES.
I appreciate that very much.
So, now we will turn to Michael Lewis,
the Interim President of PG&E for your presentation.
Mr. Lewis?
-: Thank you and good morning, President Batjer,
Commissioners, Director Ghilarducci,
Chief Porter, Chief Berlant.
My name is Michael Lewis and I am the Interim President
of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
I would just say that your opening comments
are weighed heavy on my mind and my heart.
I take full accountability on what's happened in the past
and I will take full accountability
for what's gonna happen in the future.
It's our intent to not only meet your expectations
but to exceed them this year.
We've heard the message and for the next 10 minutes
my desire is for you to see that we have not only
just heard your expectations,
we have acted upon them in a way
with a sense of urgency, importance
and it's been our highest calling over the last year.
We appreciate the opportunity to share an update
on our comprehensive actions to reduce the impacts
of public safety power shutoff effects this year.
First, I wanna say thank you to the state first responders,
local agencies and our customers as we work to meet
the challenges of COVID-19 together.
Our most important responsibility in everything we do
is work force, customer and community safety.
We understand the importance of keeping electricity on,
especially when so many people are working
and going to school at home.
We don't take the decision lightly to shutoff power.
Other safety power shutoffs or PSPS,
they are our last resort measures
to help prevent major wildfires.
And today I would share the steps we are taking to make PSPS
a bit smaller, shorter and smarter for our customers.
It is clear that we did not meet anyone's expectations
last year in regard to PSPS events.
Since that time, we have been continuously working
to have better outcomes in 2020.
In fact, we just successfully wrapped up
our third PSPS separation drill this summer.
But even with all the work we have done,
we know what really matters is how we execute.
And we are ready to again,
to exceed your expectations this year.
With me today to talk about our programs
and answer questions are Laurie Giammona,
who's our Senior Vice President
and Chief Customer Officer, Aaron Johnson,
our Vice President in Electric Operations
and Mark Fullman, Interim Lead
of our Transition System Operations.
Go to slide two, please.
We know the breadth of the challenge we have to meet.
More than half of PG&E's service area
and nearly 90% of the Californians we serve
are located with high fire-threat districts.
While service area's large,
our efforts this year are focused
on using our scope and scale to deliver better outcomes
for our customers and the community at a local level.
Next slide, thank you.
As soon as we store the last customer
effective of PSPS event last fall,
we made a commitment to our customers, the communities
we serve and this Commission that PSPS events this year
will be smaller in size, shorter in length
and smarter in execution for our customers.
Smaller, shorter, smarter, and framed our strategic approach
for how we focused on work this year.
Our investments in electric system,
how we prioritize our work
and the way we show up with our customers and communities.
This slide shows the framework at a high level.
I'll talk about each of these in more detail.
Next slide, please.
This slide shows the actions we have taken
to reduce customer impacts and make these events smaller
by 33% compared to PSPS events last year.
So for example, these actions would have resulted
in approximately 285,000 fewer customer accounts
being impacted during the event that took place
from October the 9th to the 12th of last year.
And 299,000 fewer customer outages or customer accounts
during the event that took place
from October the 26th to November the 1st.
To meet these targets, we have exceeded our goal
for acquiring backup generation.
We have prepared substations to be able to accept
this backup generation in order to stay energized
without great support.
We've installed new sectionalizing devices
on our distribution system,
that will better target the locations
where to turn off power.
We've added new transmission lines
which is to help us reroute power
to the high-voltage lines to keep community energized.
To improve that weather model and to better track
and respond to severe weather threats,
we have installed advanced weather stations
that provide details about local weather conditions.
We now have more than 800 of these stations installed
and by end of the year, we'll have more than 1,000.
We have installed high definition cameras to give us
and our public safety partners better situation awareness.
We now have 220 of these cameras installed
and by end of the year, we'll have more than 300.
Next slide, please.
This year, our goal is to make the events shorter
by restoring power to nearly
all customers within 12 daylight hours
after severe weather has passed
which is a 50% improvement over
our 24 hour goal from last year.
This will be achieved using 30 additional helicopters,
leveraging technology that can be used
to inspect lines at night
and deploying more PG&E contractor
and mutual assistant crews
from neighboring western states for inspections.
Next slide.
We know PSPS communication had to improve.
We have changed and enhanced the way we're working
with customers in critical facilities.
We're providing better information
and resources to our customers.
We have coordinated directly with local communities
to improve the locations, availability and services provided
at community resource centers.
We've appeared to report the required hours of operations
of the CRC at all locations,
unless otherwise requested by the county.
We have rebuilt our PSPS event website
to handle more traffic and provide
more clear information that moves faster.
We work directly with our customers
to improve PSPS notifications
to provide more detail earlier.
And we are using multiple channels to come
to outreach and education to customers.
We know that outreach is working
because we have reduced the number of customers
with missing contact information by nearly 75%.
Next slide, please.
We also have a dedicated team
working with critical customers.
We have worked closely with hospitals
and healthcare providers
on backup for power plans for their facilities.
To share an example, PG&E worked closely
with the California Hospital Association
and Hospital Council of Northern and Central California
to ensure that all COVID-19 critical hospitals
and hotspot threat areas can continue operating effectively
during a PSPS event.
We also have identified COVID testing sites,
quarantine lodging, temporary hospitals,
and treatment facilities
in our service area working with local OES departments.
We continue to meet regularly
with telecommunication providers.
Several of them participating in a PSPS exercise drill.
In addition, we will be executed a telcom specific
notification drill later this month
at the direction of the PPUC.
Additionally, we have worked with local and state officials
to ensure both tabulation centers stay energized
during the upcoming elections.
Next slide please.
-: [Commissioner Shiroma] President Batjer,
may I ask a question at this point?
-: [President Batjer] Yes of course, Commissioner Shiroma.
Please.
-: Okay, Michael two questions.
First of all, you mentioned mutual assistance
from western states in a previous slide.
How quickly will those other utilities
be able to mobilize and send help?
-: Thank you for the question, Commissioner.
So, last week I had the opportunity to meet with the CEOs
and leaders of approximately 20 of, or more utilities
from Ohio, from Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Nevada,
Arizona, start if you will drive it to that answer.
As a follow up, I am working with the teams to develop
what I call a checklist and if you will,
have a best approval when we can accelerate
and expedite the movement of resources across state lines.
It is our intent as the weather dissipates
to have those resources in operation
as soon as we start the inspection process.
-: Okay, and then on your slide about CEOs,
I asked the other utilities about the food banks,
those food banks that are within the shutoff zone
and then food banks that are providing fresh food
for people who live in the shutoff zone.
And can you amplify for us,
describe what is PG&E doing for-
-: Yeah, thank you for the question-
-: [Commissioner Shiroma] Energizing food banks and helping
to provide the fresh food. -: Thank you.
-: Yes, Ma'am.
So, we consider food banks an essential service.
So, we have reached out and identified these food banks
and Meals on Wheels also.
We have identified 26 food banks.
And so basically we work with them
on preparedness and resiliency.
In addition to that we are helping them work through
our self generation incentive program to help them
in terms of backup generation also.
In addition to that, we'll be offering charitable grants
to facilitate that transaction for them as well.
We will continue to work with them
to ensure that they have what they need
in the case of a PSPS and of course,
where we are now with our, in the COVID-19.
-: I have a question too, Michael,
before we move on to the next slide.
I'm sorry that you haven't covered this in your medical
baseline customer presentation.
As I've mentioned to your representatives before,
and I've mentioned to the other utilities,
we are very concerned about how you are going
to communicate PSPS notifications
to people that live behind the master meter,
people that live in the mobile home parks,
people that live in section eight housing,
those people, and to include those people behind
the meter who fall into the category
of Medical Baseline customers.
So, I'm very concerned because we have had
many testimonies from people who have never been notified.
You all don't even know who they are, because again,
they're behind the master meter
and they pay their utility bill to their rent,
to the manager of the of the facility.
So, could you address that?
'Cause I don't see it
on your Medical Baseline customers on this slide.
-: Yeah, thanks for the question and yes, I can.
So, we have reached out to our Medical Baseline customers
behind master meters.
We've engaged them directly and we are pursuing
a more enhanced modification and also a process for them
to renew their enrollment in the Medical Baseline Program.
And to give you the details of this,
of our efforts at this point,
I'll ask Laurie Giammona to speak on this directly.
-: [President Batjer] Thank you.
-: Thank you, Michael -: You're welcome.
Laurie: and thank you President Batjer for the question.
We've identified over 5,400 master metered accounts
that have a PSPS likelihood.
And now what we're doing is working
with those master metered accounts
and doing extensive outreach.
We're conducting tenant education,
we're providing flyers, we've also expanded
and made it easier for folks to apply
for the Medical Baseline Program,
especially in a COVID environment
where we're not requiring a physician to sign off.
So our applications overall for Medical Baseline
are up 20,000 since the beginning of COVID.
As it relates specifically
to these 5,400 master metered customers,
I have a dedicated team that's working
on outreach to the master metered accounts.
And then more importantly, working on in a COVID
environment how we reach out to the tenants
to make sure that they are aware of Medical Baseline.
They understand the application process has made it easy
for them on our web portal, as well as calling
into our call center.
So, we're tracking those customers.
We know that there's about 1,700 of them that are already
registered for Medical Baseline.
We've automatically reauthorized their annual certification,
and so we're gonna continue to close that gap
as we continue through the balance of the year.
-: And we'll make that more prominent in all of our
communications in the future, President Batjer.
-: [President Batjer] Thank you Michael and thank you Laurie
and I see that Commissioner Rechtschaffen has a question.
-: Michael or Laurie, if you could,
I wanted to follow up on Medical Baseline.
The universe, it sounds like you've identified
the universe of customers
you think are likely to be affected by shutoff this year
or just referred to 5,400 master metered accounts.
So, not just those accounts but the entire universe
of Medical Baseline customers who may be affected,
are you providing them with any backup equipment
in the event of shutoff?
Any batteries, household batteries
or small and portable batteries?
-: So I'll start, Laurie, now and turn over to you.
So, basically we are working in collaboration
with the California Foundation
for Independent Living Centers
as a means to ensure that we're able to connect
to the communities in a more effective way.
And through that collaboration, we are providing portable
batteries in the case of a need that we can identify
and prioritize properly.
That would also include backup powers as well.
Beyond that, Laurie can you speak in detail
about we go into the areas of the hotel vouchers
and food stipends and other means to ensure
that we can take care of that community.
Laurie, you wanna answer that?
Laurie: Yes, thank you and thank you for the question.
When I quoted the number earlier of what,
how we've identified those numbers,
what we've done is we've actually looked back at last year
and looked at those Medical Baseline customers
that were impacted by a PSPS event and multiple events.
We've even gone a bit deeper to look at those customers
that our Medical Baseline on life support,
Medical Baseline that have,
that are part of our ASN community as well.
So we have, as Michael said,
we have a robust relationship with the CFILC.
We're continuing that relationship.
Last year, we procured batteries for them to distribute.
They also provide a number of other resources
for customers based on the customer's needs,
because some customers can't stay in their home
with a battery and need to be moved to a hotel
or provided with other types of services.
And in fact, the Center for Independent Living
has recently signed a contract statewide
with extended stays throughout California
and has ensured that these are COVID safe environments
for them to utilize to move customers
to should they need them.
In addition, we've launched a battery program.
We are procuring batteries, the Yeti 3000,
as much as our other IOUs are doing in the state.
And we will have batteries available
to distribute to customers.
We're leveraging our CBO network
and our (indistinct) contractors
to work with customers to ensure that we can either give
them a battery or we can give them a battery for the season
and then we can take it back for the CBO to maintain it.
And then lastly, we've also launched a,
in working with the Commission we've launched
an SCHIP program specifically focused at Medical Baseline
customers that are ASN customers,
they also may live in our DAC communities and they
can apply for SCHIP funding, full funding to install
solar and battery backups and we're having
a great response to that program as well.
But we're really, as we do our outreach
and leveraging our CBO's and we're working
with our Medical Baseline customers,
we're taking into consideration all of the circumstances
by which customers live in, whether they're renters,
they live in apartments, Section 8 housing.
And we're also looking at extending our programs
to ensure that we're reaching all of these customers
regardless of their circumstances.
So, our CBO's are really going to be great partners
in helping us prioritize and support customers
in the best way for those customers.
-: And I just have a couple quick follow up questions.
You said you're procuring the Yeti batteries,
they'll be probably available to customers.
When will that happen and how many customers do you plan
on distributing those to?
You've probably heard when we had our hearings
on earlier this week with SDG and Edison.
SDG, they told us that they have or will distribute
Yeti batteries to all Medical Baseline customers
who will be impacted by PSPS events.
And Edison similarly said that they would distribute
something like 2,500 backup systems to all income qualified
Medical Baseline customers who have critical care needs.
I'm just trying to judge what you're doing,
both when the batteries will be available
and the extent of reach,
of how many customers will that reach compared
to the universe of people potentially affected?
Laurie: As we looked at our numbers last year,
thank you for the question first of all.
As we look at our numbers last year, we have approximately
13,000 customers that were impacted more than once by a PSPS
that we would consider Medical Baseline
vulnerable customers.
So, they would also, a portion of those are also
income qualified.
By September, we will have procured 3,000 batteries.
Now, I realize that that feels like a 10,000 Delta.
That's why we're working with, not everyone needs a battery
as our customers have indicated,
which is why we're leveraging our CBOs
and our live heat contractors
so we can have a battery delivery
system similar to how we leveraged the CFILC last year.
We're also gonna be leveraging the CFILC
to provide other services for customers where a battery
might not be appropriate.
COVID has flowed the supply chain down.
We're working to secure, if we can secure more batteries
than the 3,000 we will secure more batteries.
But as of right now, by September we will, if our orders
come in as planned, we will have 3,000 batteries
to distribute dynamically throughout the PSPS season.
-: Is it your intention to secure the remaining 10,000
as soon as you can?
You just, you're not able to because of COVID
slowdowns or other reasons?
Laurie: Yes we're gonna continue to procure,
there's supply chain slow down,
there's also a significant demand.
And so we're continuing to work with the developers
of these batteries to procure as many as we can
throughout and we built a multi-year program
so that we can continue to procure batteries
to support these customers.
-: Thank you.
-: Allow me to add to that- -: I think Director Ghilarducci
had his hand up first and then
we'll move to the other questions.
Mark?
-: Great, thanks Marybel.
Hey Michael, just a quick followup on the Medical Baseline
and the the vulnerable population in the community.
Have we been able to work through all of the challenges
that we saw last year with regards to being able to get all
of the information to not just the state,
but to our local partners with regards
to the specific personal information?
I know there was some impediments, legal impediments
last year that we needed to work through
and I just don't wanna get into a place
where we're gonna be in the heat of the battle again
and we're faced with that.
So, could you clarify that a little bit for me?
-: Yes, Sir, thank you for the question.
So, absolutely we've cleared those hurdles
and we now have a easy process.
It's a portal like, if you will,
all of our critical important safety partners
to have access to that information.
And it's really easy.
It's a finer process.
All those issues that didn't work out in advance.
So yes, we have established that means to be able
to provide that information to all
of our public safety partners.
-: Great, thank you. -: Go ahead, Linda.
Thanks, Mark.
I think Daniel, did I see you, did you have your hand up?
Chief Berlant: Yeah, thank you President,
just 'cause since we're at a stop here.
The slide before you talked about
the increase in helicopters that you'll
be using doubling your air fleet.
Curious if you could explain to us
what protocols you have in place
or what you'll be doing this coming year to coordinate
those efforts with our air operations?
-: Chief, thank you for the question.
So yes, that is a big issue for us
because as you have those mid aircraft in the air,
having a real defined flight plan,
integrated air ops is really important.
So, we have a plan to do that and I'll ask Mark
to provide you the details.
Mark?
Mark: Thanks, Michael, thanks, Chief Berlant.
Great question about managing airspace
and how we're gonna coordinate with Cal Fire
and other agencies during events if we have a fire ignition
out there or during a PSPS event.
So first and foremost, we leverage the agency reps
that are currently or typically
in place at our emergency operation center
from the state agencies.
And we're very clear on expectations that's if there's
an active fire, Cal Fire owns that airspace
and we follow directions from Cal Fire.
But, it's really a matter of just exchanging
situational awareness, some intelligence about any types
of events that Cal Fire may be fighting along with our
operation, we leveraged the VA rep process through the EOC
to coordinate our efforts.
And we're sure to steer clear of that airspace
that's owned by you.
-: I appreciate that, just taking one step further
with doubling the air fleet and many of those being the same
helicopters that would be used
for highway needed firefighting,
has there been any thought process on how you would
coordinate the fact that now they're under exclusive use
for your needs and how that might be prioritized?
-: Mark, let me- -: Great question.
Go ahead, Michael, I'm sorry.
-: So, these Lucas contracts are really designed
should we get them into theory of operation.
Again,
there'll be times when we will
not need that type of coverage.
And as you know, our assets are available to all
about public safety partners to facilitate public safety
in general, I mean period.
So, I would not speak to a contractor being a means
that is inhibiting resources that are needed elsewhere
at a higher priority.
We will work through those things like we did last year
actually to ensure that we have the resources
available to all of our public safety partners.
Berlant: Great, thank you very much.
-: Thank you for the question.
-: [President Batjer] Commissioner Shiroma,
I think you had a question.
-: Yes, thank you.
Just one more question on this slide.
I may have one or two more later, maybe more for this slide.
Okay.
Customers on the groundwater pumps on the water wells,
I've noted to council and we were on a well.
So, Michael and your team, what are you doing for, I mean,
you cover a vast territory.
42 counties of the 47 high flyer strip.
What specifically are you doing
for the customers who are on their own wells
that require electricity to pump drinking water?
-: Yeah, thank you for the question.
Allow me to begin with an answer
and I'll let Laurie go into the details.
So, we have also identified probably wells
as an essential service.
And so we have reached out all the same way
with the food banks in terms of thinking
about preparedness and resiliency.
And then offering our programs in terms of them being able
to gain access to the Sub-generation Incentive Program.
And I believe Laurie, you can correct me if I'm wrong,
but we have over 2,000 of those requests already submitted.
So, Laurie you wanna validate that for me or correct me?
Laurie: Thanks Michael, you're absolutely right.
Commissioner, we've been doing extensive outreach
with those customers that we know are on well water.
We're encouraging preparedness and resiliency
across a number of options for them.
To date we've got over 2,100 now SCHIP applications
that we're processing for customers with pumps.
In addition to that, we are providing a marketplace
for them to look at what appropriate backup generation
might be for their well in their location.
And then at our CRC's we are gonna be coordinating options
for water availability for animals,
agriculture and customers.
-: [President Batjer] Thank you.
-: Thank you for the question. -: Okay.
-: Michael I think you can- -: Allow me to speak-
-: [President Batjer] continue on with your next slide.
-: Okay, I will just say one comment on this slide
before we move on that's really around the batteries.
You talked about the 10,000 gap.
That's why for all your offerings, including hotel vouchers
and other means the show that we still take care
of those customers with or without
the gap with batteries.
So, I want you to know that we're not
just gonna rely on batteries to be
the one means of being able to meet
the expectations of our customers,
our most vulnerable customers.
We'll look for other means to fulfill their needs,
whatever gap we may have with the technology
or supply chain disruptions
that we deal with on a regular basis.
So, thank you for that.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so part of making these a bit smarter
for our customers require us to work in concert
with counties, tribal governments and cities this year.
PG&E leaders and officers held PSPS listening sessions
with local and tribal governments to improve plans
for coordination they made adjustments
based on the feedback we heard.
In March we established a PSPS advisory committee,
made up of county and tribal representatives,
along with leads of city,
California cities
and California State Association of Counties.
We presented a series of wildfire safety working sessions
to provide details on PSPS program improvements,
climatology studies, local metric infrastructures and more.
And our emergency operation center teams
have been trained in Standard Emergency Management System,
SEMS, including me to ensure that we all aligned
with state, county, local agencies
in both our response and communication.
Next slide, please.
And lastly, yet importantly,
I wanna take a moment to address
PG&E's planning with regards to PSPS events
and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
As you said at the beginning, we do PSPS events
as a tool of last resort.
Since the beginning of the pandemic,
we have been focused on actions
to ensure that the energy grid remains safe and reliable.
We have also adjusted our PSPS planning efforts
to take the appropriate measures to ensure the health
and safety of customers in our workforce.
These include adjusting our plans for backup generation,
provided more support to health care providers,
adjusting preparations for community resource centers
and more.
We look forward to continued partnership
with these communities we serve
as we all adjust and respond to these unique challenges.
My last slide.
Well, of course thank you for your patience.
Let me start with that.
Thank you for the patience that you've had
with our organization.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, as already stated,
and I see this as an ongoing to continue to improve
how we operate in this business.
Our commitment to improving public safety
and further reducing wildfire risk is unwavering.
And we again appreciate because our customers in the state,
counties, cities, tribes and our community partners,
working together with us on all solutions
that can prevent major wildfires.
Now, we're happy to continue answering questions.
-: Thank you Michael.
I wanna step back if I may to the slide before you finish,
the 2020 PSPS readiness slide,
working with county, tribe or city governments.
One more slide back.
There you go.
You know that last year you had some real difficulties
in terms of your liaison and relationships
and communications with the counties,
the county emergency centers
as well as just the administration of the county.
And we had pressed you to establish formal relationships
and liaisons with each of the counties.
And you have 47 counties in your service area,
42 of which are in higher threat districts.
So, I know you've had listening sessions,
I know you've done workshops,
however, can you be a little bit
more specific about what you've done to establish those
relationships and how are they going to work differently
this fall than they did last?
-: Thank you for your question and thank you for being kind
in describing our performance last year.
It was awful in terms of how we engaged
with the counties and the tribes.
So, in fact, that became my number one objective
to close that gap.
To ensure that this year, not only are we communicating
to these very important partners,
but they're a part of our solution.
But basically, nothing happened in these communities
without their engagement in every aspect
from the look and feel of what we give to them
to even operational issues around where should we install
various devices to facilitate a better resiliency
for their communities.
I personally met with the representatives from Butte County
and Eldorado County and it just reaffirmed the need
to have those special relationships.
And I'll ask Aaron Johnson to provide the details
that you asked about because again,
that was my highest priority was to reestablish
and maintain those very important relationships.
Aaron.
Aaron: Thank you Michael
and thank you President Batjer for the question.
A key priority for us in executing on this work was really
increasing the resources dedicated to this.
So we established a clear relationship
with our public safety specialists.
That team has grown by 50%.
So, there are now 28 representatives.
So, they are generally served one or two,
in a few instances three county
so that we have much stronger direct
relationships with emergency management
in each of the counties.
But we also increased by about 40%
our local public affairs representatives,
so that there is additional support
for various cities as well as government officials.
And we are also about to be increasing
our tribal engagement team,
doubling the size of that team.
And we've also identified an additional eight individuals
for that team who help us with cultural assessments
in our work to also be able to support that team
as they are generally familiar with many of the tribes
in our service territory.
So, adding significant resources and really establishing
clarity around those relationships has been a really
important part of building that relationship with them.
Thank you. -: Aaron, that sounds
like a definite improvement
from last year but I wanna
be a little bit more specific.
Some of the concerns that also we heard,
I think Director Ghilarducci has heard
as well as the Commission,
that some of, when you did have it, a contact,
they were not operationally sound and they were more
of a public affairs communications press person
that they couldn't answer and help the counties
on operational questions.
Questions about the system,
how the system's functioning, more specific.
So, are your new reps that you just, these new 28 reps
that you just established, are they people that are aware
of operational issues?
-: So Aaron, allow me to start with the answer
because that was also a gap that I identified
in my engagement as well.
So, beyond what Aaron just mentioned,
each of the counties that will be engaged in the PSPS event
will have not only an operational individual
that can understand the grid in that community,
but also a GIS individual to help with the technology.
And furthermore, I'm gonna be assigning actual trucks,
at least one construction vehicle to facilitate
real time engagement of things that are happening
beyond a central command scope.
The intent here as you stated, we are a large organization.
47 counties.
We cannot manage this event effectively from San Francisco.
So, our entire intent or my intent was to push out
the decision making process as much as possible
in an integrated way.
And the only way that I can do that is have operational
people with the OES's in these communities facilitating
what I call real time operation conversations
and havin' that information be passed up to the EOC
for validation and then execution.
-: [President Batjer] Okay.
Director Ghilarducci,
do you have any follow up questions on that?
-: Yeah, thanks Michael.
I think that the devil's in the details on this
and I think I know the direction you're going,
I appreciate that.
But I think there's still this, the nuances is that actual
ability to engage with local officials, both leading
up to a PSPS in the preparation and planning phase.
And then in the real time during the PSPS with real time
information that they can actually
be able to express to the community, their constituents,
that public safety entities can respond accordingly
and I guess I didn't really hear from that answer
that the individuals Aaron talked about
increasing the number, that those individuals
that are gonna be tied to the counties
will have all the authority and information and the ability
to answer all of those questions in real time and be able
to actually proactively provide information
to those counties so that no one is in a place
where they're reacting and waiting for information.
Does that make sense?
-: Yes, Sir, it does.
And so that is our intent and so the detail
going forward and we'll continue to work with your staff
and the county to ensure we close any gap
that we have in that space.
I do know that, for example the portal that we have
developed to facilitate information sharing
between various groups, ELC to the various counties.
We will continue to enhance that based on feedback
from our county and tribes to ensure
that they have that information.
But in terms of the protocol of operating through a PSPS
in prep doing it even after we are still working
through those details and we'll continue to work
with our partners to ensure
we bring their insight into making sure.
Because it is not operationally sound or it doesn't,
it's more a facade and we can't have a facade.
They have to be operational in a way
that they would make decisions, inform their stakeholders,
their neighbors in essence in a way that we can have
that insight, not only at the county level
but all the way up to the ELC.
So, I give you one example when I was in El Dorado County,
and this is where it is really kinda hit home with me.
I was shown a particular circuit
that was part of the PSPS that was actually
in kind of an urban area serving
at a kind of four lane highway,
serving a grocery store and I think a hardware store.
And all it would've taken was one switch,
I would have had that community up if you will,
and with some of the main requirements
to keep the community going,
including the traffic signals
that we couldn't see from San Francisco
and furthermore there was understanding of that
at the local level but it was no mean
if you have an operation
of communication backed up to the ELC.
So, Mark's willin' to work in on that protocol
for us right now and Mark,
you wanna add anything to that statement?
My statement?
Mark: Yeah, the only thing I would cover or add Michael,
is the fact that the public safety specialists
that will be county liaison representatives during an event,
the single point of contact,
if you will between the counties and PG&E as it relates
to emergency management, emergency response,
when we're in event space, they're the county liaisons,
all of those employees are trained up fully
on SEMS and so we can talk the common language
and have a common operating picture
and communicate effectively with respect
to status of the event in terms
that we can all understand to align the response.
-: So, just a quick, -: I have a-
-: Sorry Mary, just a quick follow up if I could.
So thanks, I appreciate that.
I don't wanna belabor the issue
and the SEMS training personnel in the field
and talk the talk and walk the walk is really critical.
But the public affairs folks or anybody
that's actually engaging with the locals,
I'll just reiterate how important this year
that they're not gonna just articulate a press release.
They're gonna actually have the information
that's necessary to share in real time.
So, I won't belabor the point.
I think you know the issue that we're concerned with
and so I appreciate that.
-: Thank you, Director. -: Thanks, Mark.
Mark: I do, Director and we're clear
and that's our intent.
-: Okay, Mark, thanks.
I have, you raised it out to the distribution transmission.
I have a question.
I believe that most of your de-energization actions
have been to turn off your distribution lines.
What is your policy, Michael, and protocol
that de-energizing transmission lines,
when you were trying to avoid your infrastructure
starting a fire in certain areas?
And there was a certain problem
with this in Humboldt County last year.
-: Yeah, thank you for the question.
So, our low voltage transmission lines present a challenge
in terms of operating into a high wind event
that we experienced last year.
So, in essence we did de-energize 60 or 70
community transmission lines to mitigate that threat.
In turn, de-energizing substations that led
to massive de-energization of communities
to mitigate that threat or that issue
the backup generation was really for that primary purpose,
to identify those substations that were,
who will high probability of being impacted by PSPS events
and have those substations be if you will designed
and fitted with backup generation to in fact,
take the place of the transmission line.
So, I could de-energize that line and still keep
the substation energized.
Furthermore, we also repurposed some of our generation.
So, in Humboldt County, for example, our generation team
and our transmission team repurposed that plant
so now it can be ours and operate and serve
that community without transmission at all.
Which by the way has 80,000 customer accounts.
So, that was really the first order
from an operational standpoint.
I talked about the county and how we engage
with the county and the director reemphasized
that in his question.
The was really the most important area
from the standpoint of engagement,
with the operational engagement.
Addressing these transmission lines and how they impacted
these events and brought these limits to a grand scale
was the number one issue for us on the operating side.
Thus, the reason for the 458 megawatts
of backup generation that we have available to deploy.
And we will have 62 substations ready to be able
to be connected to these generators within hours.
-: [President Batjer] Well, will the restoration times
be longer for the transmission lines
than that have been de-energized?
-: Well, when I have the backup generation in place,
it goes through the same protocol
as we do with all of our lines.
Once the mines, once the wind dissipates,
we'll launch our helicopters and they are in our fixed wing
aircraft which will now help infrared technology
that we can fly at night and they patrol those lines
making sure that there's no trees
that's fallen into those lines.
Then once that patrol is complete, we will energize
those lines and they fall within that 12 hour daylight.
Our goal that we have, that includes both
transmission and distribution.
-: [President Batjer] Okay, there's some big concerns there.
And the substations, the 52 substations,
how did you prioritize where they are
and which ones you chose for the backup, then?
Backup generation? -: Yes, Ma'am.
Yeah, thank you for the question.
So we, this was all about probability and we have
a full season to look back on
and to see where we had these events happening
and they've been served by these transmission lines.
And so we just have these substations, if you will,
in some cases, we have the generation already there on site.
In some cases, we have them in a place
where they can be deployed within hours.
In other words, they're stationed
somewhere in Northern California
to help facilitate any anomalies
that may have occurred that we didn't anticipate.
And beyond just the 52, we can actually serve any
substations at any time.
It just takes a little bit longer because we'll have
a switching order that's already pre-planned.
But so, to answer your question directly,
it was based on the probability
of the substation being de-energized
because of a PSPS event.
-: Okay, thank you.
That's helpful to have more specificity.
I'm sure there's
more questions -: Yes, Ma'am.
-: from the dais.
Martha, do you have any question?
-: Yes, thank you President Batjer.
Just in regards to that follow up question,
I'm really trying to understand the role of the public
safety specialists, especially in those areas
where they've lacked that local presence.
Of course, we talked a lot about in the past
and these discussions about Lake County.
We received another letter from the county,
I think about a half and a month ago now.
And they seem to have continued lack of communication
with your local specialist or anyone there.
Really, the question they had is what's the status
of the backup generation for their substations?
I saw a subsequent response from all of you
but kind of continues to be a lack of clarity
of what the role is with the specialists
and how much work they are really doing with the local
counties and emergency preparedness agencies
on who they can simply call to know if there is a shift
of where the need for backup generation is,
where if all the substations will be provided backup
generation just as one example.
And I have a couple of their follow ups.
So that's really the big one
that I think we heard from the county.
And I don't know if you have a specific response there.
-: First, thank you for the question
and I would ask Aaron to speak about Lake County
and then Martha we need to, I would ask you to be more
specific about the public safety specialists
and their roles if they engage our counties.
So, Aaron, you wanna speak about Lake County?
Aaron: Thank you, Michael and thank you Commissioner.
With regard to Lake County, we have had a series of ongoing
dialogues, we've had six meetings now with them
over the last several months
where we have been having these various discussions,
some with more the staff in the counties talking
about some of the specific micro grids.
In our response to them,
we did let them know that we are planning to provide
a substation enabled temporary generation
at all substations within the county,
where there would be a potential for impact.
So, there is for example, one substation
where it's just sort of a weigh station
and we don't actually serve customers off it.
So that substation is not being provided backup generation.
So, we did provide that clarity with them, myself
and a couple of our other subject matter experts
will be presenting at their resilience committee
on 9/1 in a couple of weeks here to provide further
information for the county as we continue to have
an ongoing dialogue about their concerns and questions.
-: Thank you.
And just in regards to the public safety specialists,
do they all, are they the group tasked
or the individuals tasked with knowing what all the local
critical facilities are?
You mentioned kind of a territory wide effort
with hospitals but who's in charge of other critical
facilities, water, telco, food banks
as Commissioner Shiroma said?
-: Thank you for the question.
Mark, do you wanna talk more specifically about this?
The assessors and their roles?
Mark: Yeah, thank you Michael and thanks for the question
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
So, with respect to the public safety's specialized areas
of responsibility, their primary responsibility
is the point of contact for emergency response
and being that single point of contact
for any type of hazard, not just the public safety
power shut offs but also active fires,
any earthquakes, any storm activity,
that's really the job scope to be that point person
and then when we're in actual event management
or incident management, they are the county liaison
or agency rep representing PG&E.
With respect to understanding all of the work that goes on
within a county and understanding where all their critical
sites are within the county,
that's a group effort from our customer team
and our local public affairs team.
But the voice to the counties should be
the public safety specialist.
And if we've got some gaps there,
we'll be happy to follow up.
-: I would also add to that,
we do have maps to all critical facilities by county.
So, it's not just one sector of critical customers.
It's all critical customers in Floyd County
and that map will be continually updated
to reflect the most latest information.
-: [President Batjer] Michael, will those maps
also include COVID-19 testing sites?
We're very concerned about making sure that testing sites
are still up and functioning.
-: Absolutely, and so we, and we consider those
part of our pandemic critical infrastructure
and we defined pandemic in terms of the testing sites
where there's a need for electricity,
as well as the temporary hospitals,
the other medical facilities,
the temporary lodging and whatnot,
what I mentioned earlier.
That's kind of a total portfolio of what
I call these barriers, important facilities
to doing a piece that needs
to be energized during a PSPS event.
But with that I'll ask Laurie
if you wanna add anymore insight to that.
Laurie: Thanks, Michael.
We've added all of the critical sites and the pandemic
COVID sites into the agency and county portals.
So, those will all be available and we will be tracking them
as well as the public safety specialists
in coordination with the county.
-: And I would ask that,
I'm sorry. -: Go ahead, go ahead.
(indistinct)
-: I was gonna say that back to being nimble
and havin' operational boots on the ground
in those particular counties,
there was a gap that we did not cover in our plan,
that gap is gonna be closed
just by the one phone call
to the local counties, the OUC,
and then we're there and we can deploy whatever
is necessary to close that gap
and that is the operational part of this is that,
we have to, you can plan to a degree,
but I just know from my own experience
that there has to be a need
to be able to be nimble enough to address
these emerging issues that we think speaks to our plan.
-: Okay, that's helpful and Michael I see you're,
oh, I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Commissioner Shiroma.
-: President Batjer, I was just going to add,
we are tracking the testing sites
but we're also working directly with customers
to identify facilities directly involved
in this test kit production,
treatment development and vaccine development.
So we've expanded beyond just the test site.
So we can be in support of those customers
that are helping to stem this issue.
And so that we can be in support and ensure
that they're energized and they have
the support that they need.
-: [President Batjer] Okay.
Thank you
for that clarification. -: Okay.
President Batjer, I do really have two questions,
but I'm gonna just lead to Director Porter first.
-: Okay. -: Chief Porter.
-: [President Batjer] Chief Porter?
I'm sorry, I can't see Chief Porter so...
Yeah, go ahead. -: I'm unmuted now.
Thanks and thanks for the deferral.
I do have a public safety specialist kind of maybe more
in the weeds question,
but it comes with baggage from the past.
I just wanna make sure that we're on the same page.
Several of your public safety specialists,
I believe have been hired from retirees
out of both OES and Cal fire,
or they have significant relationships
with several of our employees
in both organizations and maybe others.
I wanna be sure that you have worked diligently to ensure
that they are not using personal relationships
and phone lists that they brought with them
from previous employment to make contacts,
to get answers and to have conversations at a level
that is inappropriate under the circumstances
that might be unfolding at any one point.
I wanna make sure that they are all following a chain
of command and a communications plan that is appropriate
to keep the counties in the loop to keep
the state agencies in the loop
because as you know, Michael,
we've had conversations in the past.
Sometimes you can get the quick answer at the local level,
but the rest of us don't know what's going on
in the broader emergency management program area
when those personal relationships
are utilized outside of the chain of command.
Are you comfortable that the 28 plus specialists
and any other field reps are going to follow
a communication plan and not go outside of that?
-: Chief Porter thank you for the question and absolutely.
I will not ever forget our conversation
on this mattered and naturally
at the very next moment, the communication or inappropriate
or unauthorized communications ceased.
And so, you're correct.
The PSPS do have law enforcement
and first responders background.
Obviously that is a germane to what we do
and that brings that skillset
so we can better serve our communities
and also partner with you and in the capitol of the ES.
But with that said, that is professional experience
that we're leveraging, not their personal relationships
they carry with them from the previous roles.
So, respecting the chain of command,
understanding the idea of discipline and communication.
Transparency is something that we continue to reinforce,
and by some chance there's an action that goes outside
that expectations, we will address it immediately.
-: Thank you for that response and I believe that's the case
we'll be monitoring as well.
I just get difficult as you know, to track our own
conversations within large departments like we are.
So, thank you.
-: Absolutely.
I normally have a, I do a proclamation
and they didn't wanna know that it came from me
and that there'll be accountability associated
with that online around clear expectation.
They will further validate that their own means as well.
So, understood and we'll follow up, ensure that happens.
-: Thank you.
-: Yes, Sir.
-: [President Batjer] Thanks, Chief Porter.
Commissioner Shiroma, did you, I think you had,
you deferred to the chief, so do you have a question?
-: Yes, thank you, thank you, President Batjer.
So, Michael, you're keenly aware the decades of lack
of trust between your customers and PG&E.
You alluded to getting out of San Francisco,
getting out of industry and into the communities
and that is so essential.
My question has to do with your listening sessions
and did you meet with the indigenous farm working community?
They don't speak Spanish, they don't speak English.
They rely upon leadership.
There's a tendency for that distrust,
not only with you, with many.
Also the long community, similarly, that rely heavily upon
leadership to convey information.
And in meeting with these communities,
which indicate whether you met with them or not,
give an example, maybe for any of the listening sessions,
any of the stakeholder meetings,
give an example where somebody said something that caused
you all to make changes, what would be an example of that?
I just need one.
-: Okay, thank you for the question.
So, I'll ask Aaron to provide you details
but I'll give you one personally.
So, in Eldorado County, I never listen to the session
and Placerville and city were there as well.
And in that session, this idea of around providing means
for the OEC to provide operational data information
to the EOC and then act on that data without going through
the protocols we have at a system level,
installing devices, that was not part of our plan,
in a different location
because of their knowledge, that worked.
So I trained with one way, and then after that conversation,
we changed those plans based
on that information or that conversation.
So in terms of, I can speak about tribal governments
and then I'll let Aaron speak about these other communities
that are definitely reporting to this entire effort.
We treat tribal government and counties the same.
So they got the same engagement with us as the counties did.
There was no difference in their engagement with us,
but in terms of the other communities you mentioned,
I'll ask Aaron to speak to that directly.
Any other examples that when we changed our plan
based on what we heard?
Aaron: Yeah, so thanks Michael.
Thank you for the question, Commissioner.
Another example I can provide is in doing our outreach
with the tribal communities,
we held four different listening sessions in Lake Humboldt,
Mendocino and Sonoma County with the tribe,
private specific.
We also organized the entire emergency management session
in Tuolumne County was actually organized by the tribes
down there in Tuolumne and that was pretty special for us
'cause generally that had been organized by county
emergency management in conjunction with us.
So that was a good increase for us, a good development.
That's something that we were quite proud of working
with the community down there in Tuolumne.
The example that I would give you is in Humboldt.
We have the Humboldt Bay power station
now set up to operate an island.
However, it cannot serve the entirety of the county
and so when we met with the Humboldt tribes there,
as we were developing that plan, it became clear
that there's a substation near the Hoopa tribe called Hoopa
that would not be able to be served by that power
station given the, some of the fire risk for the lines
that go out to that remote area.
And so in working with them,
that became one of the substations
where we are staging a generation in response
to their concerns about not being served
by that larger generation island.
-: Mark and Michael, now, I appreciate the report,
the amplification of coordinates with tribal communities.
What I said was Hmong, H-M-O-N-G,
which is a Southeast Asian community and an indigenous
such as Mixteco, also Bajo, Yaki, Zacateco.
There are a whole host of indigenous languages
that are not Spanish and they are talking
about the farm worker community.
-: Yes, Laurie
you wanna add to that? -: Commissioner Shiroma-
-: You wanna add- -: I'd be happy to.
Commissioner Shiroma, thank you so much for the question.
We are meeting the language requirements
and going far beyond that.
We've established relationships with over 250
community based organizations
to provide in-language preparedness.
And so we're really leveraging our CBO network to provide
languages that go beyond our required languages,
including indigenous languages.
In addition, just this morning, we conducted a media
briefing with media outlets that we're leveraging
and all of the languages
that you spoke of were represented.
We had just a great turnout today
and these media outlets are going to be partnering with us
to conduct multicultural events and share information
about preparedness for wildfire season
and for emergency preparedness.
We had 56 participants this morning from 31 different media
outlets covering all of the languages that you indicated.
So, we're leveraging those outlets,
plus our CBO network to really outreach to these customers
and not just to share information but to also gather
information and bring it back to incorporate
into our programs and into our continuous engagement
with these communities and customers.
-: [President Batjer] Okay.
-: Okay, well that's important,
and the theme here is knowing who you need to talk to,
who is the trusted person within the communities
to help with that communication?
I mean, those are essential efforts, so keep,
don't stop doing the stakeholder meetings
and the listening sessions and cast your efforts wider.
-: Yes, Ma'am.
Laurie: You have my commitment.
We will continue to do that.
-: Thank you.
-: [President Batjer] Michael, I have a, oh, go ahead Cliff.
Commissioner Shiroma.
-: I have a question about- -: No, that's it.
That's fine.
I know we have some folks
who are insisting we will likely hear
from Melissa Kiznets who spoke at our previous meeting.
So, I will defer any further questions.
I think Commissioner Rechtschaffen had his hand up.
-: [President Batjer] Yes.
-: Thank you.
I had a question about community resource centers.
I think it was you Laurie, when you testified last fall
after the 2019 shutoffs, you said that PG&E was identifying
community resources centers
on the fly in the middle of the actual event,
which of course is a very undesirable practice.
So, my question is how many of the ones that you planned for
how many are already up and running already?
How many will be set up by September?
-: So thank you for the question,
before I ask Aaron to provide you the details,
I will let you know that locating CRCs
was a collaborative effort.
Our backups at local, so it's been an ongoing engagement.
So that those CRCs were, if you will left it by our partners
and I'll add that with COVID-19, of course we all had to
adjust our plans because we a hardened plan
that of course was our primary approach.
With the COVID-19 pandemic we moved to various other
possible options which involves Michael,
CRC's which again has been done
in collaboration with our partners,
as well as further advances as well
to facilitate whatever may happen this fall.
But Aaron can speak to the numbers directly,
because they actually have to track that weekly.
Every week I track where we are with those CRCs,
both hardened and also the flexible one as well.
So, Aaron?
Aaron: Thanks for the question, Michael.
Thanks for the question, Commissioner.
So, I think what I may want to emphasize
what Michael spoke to here, the plan is to have
off the shelf at CRC facilities ready to go this year
and not be building that plan on the fly.
We obviously have to, and to develop those in conjunction
with county and tribal government, as well as some specific
cities have gotten involved as well.
So we've developed that plan
in consultation with all of those folks.
Currently, obviously Michael mentioned with COVID
hanging over it, our plans from the winter have shifted
this year in terms of area of focus.
So, we currently have 207 outdoor sites ready to go.
We have 36 indoor sites.
We have line of sight to have 64 of those ready by 9/1.
And we are, or rather 68, I should say with a goal
of getting above 80.
And I think we have a decent shot at that.
Some of the challenges have been from COVID
and getting those indoor sites lined up and approved
through county and local government but things are moving
again quite quickly, so we expect to have both the indoor
and the outdoor fleet.
We've been surveying counties and tribes,
they're very focused on the outdoor facilities
as the likely way that we will execute
this year given COVID concerns.
For all those facilities will provide generation
along with a host of services that we've vetted
with the counties and tribes.
-: [President Batjer] Any follow up?
Okay.
-: I have no follow ups, thank you.
-: I do. -: Okay.
-: [President Batjer] Yes, yeah, I'm sorry, Mark?
-: Yeah, if I could just on that one there, thanks for that.
Are you guys in that effort, making sure that those
facilities in the COVID environment will have
the appropriate protective measures put in place?
If you can have congregating, individuals congregating
if they will be metered coming in,
how those facilities will be sanitized after each use,
how we protect from a social distancing standpoint.
Making sure we're not providing food
in an inappropriate way.
Are all those protocols being worked out for this year?
-: Director, thank you for the question,
and the answer is yes.
Everything you just mentioned in terms
of temperature checks, social distancing practices,
disinfecting protocols, packing meals,
just like they do on air airlines now versus having a bowl
or a place where you can kind of congregate
and pass the virus, all those have been put in place.
And Aaron, you wanna add more to that
or does that cover the basics?
Aaron: The only thing I would add Michael,
thanks for the question Director, would be that,
we're looking at what we're calling sort of a grab and go
model where we'll have snacks and kind of a small
device charger with 20 cell phone charges in it,
that would be available kind of modeled
after some of the drive through testing,
COVID testing facilities.
So, we think, we hope that we can meet the needs of many
individuals that way, where we really want to have
the individuals that need medical device charging
would be the ones that we would expect
to stay longer at these facilities.
So, that's our general execution mindset.
And then obviously coming into the events,
we'll be working with the counties and tribes
and taking direction from whatever protocols they have
in place and following those in all of our facilities.
-: Thank you very much for that.
-: I'm gonna ask one last question and then we're gonna
need to move to public comment.
We're about 10 minutes over now,
but the telecommunications companies relayed
to us last fall and again,
during the winter that their communications
were not good with all of you, that in some cases
they weren't even notified or pre-notified of any shutoff
and they have their own preparation that they have to do.
So, I've been very concerned about your lines
of communications with them with the companies
that are in your service territory.
I'd like to just hear a little specificity in what you've
been doing with the telcos to make sure that they are part
of your communications and ongoing in terms
of your pre preparation, as well as in real time
when you do call the PSPS.
And then I'll have one followup question on telcos as well.
-: Thank you for the question, President Batjer.
So, we can tell the telecommunications companies
our public safety partners,
and with that definition, they will receive notifications
three days in advance of a community event
to prepare them so they can start making their plans
to facilitate PSPS events.
We've included them in all of our drills
and they participate in those drills to help work out
those communication challenges and make sure we have
the right protocol to ensure that they're able to provide
their own backup generation and get a sense of the timing
and skill of the event again in advance
of our normal protocols so they can prepare properly.
Laurie, you wanna add to that because I know your team
has been really engaged and ensure that
we had those visitors really kind of online
and with roles and responsibility clearly understood.
Laurie: Thanks, Michael.
And I would only offer in addition,
we've been working to ensure they understand
all of our ongoing work related to substation backup
generation temp generation, where it will be energized,
circuitry maps so that they understand how their network
traverses through our network.
The other thing I would add is that, two weeks ago
we invited the telcos to join us in our monthly AFN council.
And they got to hear directly from our external AFN council
on the needs of those communities
and those customers that are represented by our AFN
and Medical Baseline and aging population.
And they were very responsive, they took the feedback
and they were going back to look at their circuitry
and network and bandwidth in support of the communities
and customers that we serve.
So, I think we're working very well with them,
we're working closely with them.
And as Michael said, they all have participated in the last
three exercises as participants or observers in the event.
So, we have tight coordination
and in the instant command structure,
we have a dedicated person who is working
directly with those telecom providers
and critical customers.
-: That's very helpful information to have.
Just one final question that has to do with it.
As you know, and you just mentioned Laurie,
that the telecommunications companies have usually
in the PSPS wildfire areas, they usually have a degraded
and even in some cases, not any service at all.
But they have a low bandwidth version,
or low bandwidth, sorry.
So, when you are directing people to your website
as you did last year and you will again this year
to see maps and things like that, is very difficult
for folks that are on a cell phone or some other type
of device when there you have low bandwidth
because of the electrical outages and cell tower outages.
So, in your rework and we've been keeping up to speed
on your rework of your website as well as your new portal.
And I understand from the California Department
of Technology that you are, you will have maps that will be
usable in a situation where you've got low bandwidth.
Can you kinda speak to that just a little bit
so the public has an understanding?
-: Yes, Ma'am, thank you for the question.
And what I'll do, I'll have Laurie directly answer
that question because you have
been instrumental in this,
all these enhancements enables us to be still communicate
with our customers regardless of the bandwidth.
So, Laurie, you wanna speak to that directly?
Laurie: Sure, thanks, Michael and president Batjer,
thank you for the question.
I'm happy that we get to speak about this in a positive way
and I really appreciate the Commission's support
and engagement as well as the states CIO office,
has been a tremendous support and partner in helping us
ensure we build the right tool for our costumers.
So as you indicated, we have a new emergency website
that has been stood up, it is in the cloud
and it has plenty of bandwidth.
But we've also developed it to accommodate lower bandwidth
and serve smartphone users during an event.
It will, if a customer has lower bandwidth,
the new emergency website is structured to deliver smaller
amounts of data per page, which will then allow customers
to get the access that they need.
In addition, if they're unable to render up the map,
they are able to do a text base address lookup with no map,
and that will again, support lower bandwidth.
So we're confident that not only have we solved
for the bandwidth that we believe is necessary to continue
to operate our website, but we've made significant
enhancements to the customer experience,
including supporting those customers that live in more rural
areas that may have a challenge with bandwidth
as the cellular and wifi providers become challenged.
-: That's very, very helpful.
I wanna thank your team, Michael, Aaron and Mark and Laurie.
This has been very helpful for us today.
I'm going to move now to public comment.
I just want to remind the public that if you do wish
to comment today, please dial 800-857-1917
and enter pass code 9899501 and then press *1.
And as I said earlier, please you'll be placed in a queue,
the operator will take your name and organization,
and there will be a delay probably after you press *1.
So, please stay on the line and each person who wants
to comment today will have three minutes.
So operator, could you please call the first,
please open up the lines to the first caller?
Operator: The first caller is Melissa Kisnets,
your line is now open.
Melissa: Thank you, can you hear me?
-: [President Batjer] Yes we can Melissa, thank you.
Melissa: Thank you, I guess I'm predictable.
I appreciate the call out earlier.
I'm Melissa Kasnitz, I'm the Legal Director
at Center for Accessible Technology,
which is an active party in all of the de-energization
proceedings before the Commission.
I represent customers with disabilities and medical needs.
And so I'm of course particularly interested
in how PG&E is working to do better for that population
than they did in the past.
And in particular, the slide presentation in addressing
customers with disabilities, particularly slide seven
and slide nine only called out PG&E's efforts to do better
with its Medical Baseline population.
My first question is what PG&E is doing to address the needs
of customers that have otherwise been identified
as disabled as was required by the phase two decision
in this proceeding.
And that includes numerous ways that customers identified
in PG&E's own database as having a disability
should be given consideration in the situation
of a power shut off.
So that's my key question.
I do have several other questions and I'd appreciate
whatever responses I can get in the time available.
My other questions concerning slide six,
the slide references customer notifications,
but there's been no discussion
about what the notifications will say.
I know there was talk of improving those notifications,
but I personally as a PG&E customer, received a number
of texts last year around shutoffs,
and they all said exactly the same thing.
There may be a power shutoff
sometime in your area with no further information on timing,
duration, extent, anything of the sort.
Going back to AFN customers and particularly slide seven,
I appreciate the work that PG&E
is doing in partnership with CFILC.
The CFILC itself is always very careful to say that
this program is a pilot and it's reaches relatively small
likely to serve several hundreds of people.
And so I'd like to get a better sense of what's being done
to support folks who will not be able to receive services
through the CFILC pilot.
And also about people who will need assistance with devices
larger than small personal electronics during an outage.
Slide 15 suggests that those people can get supported CRCs,
but I'd like a better understanding of that.
And the presentation spoke about dynamic battery program,
getting batteries to people during fire season
and I'd like a better understanding of how that will happen
and batteries will be provided and installed in a timely
way especially in consideration of the pandemic.
And then my last question, if we can get to it,
focuses on the website on slide six.
I very much appreciate PG&E focus on emergency facilities.
Hello, can you hear me?
-: [President Batjer] Yeah.
Melissa, that's the bell for,
that you've hit your three minutes.
Melissa: Understand but if I can get one last sentence,
I'd like a better understanding of how in language
will be supported because updates in language
were a real problem last year.
Thank you so much.
-: May I respond, Commissioner, President?
Okay, thank you. -: Yes of course, please.
-: Thank you. -: Please do, Michael.
-: Thank you, so thank you for the questions.
Absolutely need to clarify about these details you asked.
Allow me to begin with question one and I'm sure my team
has captured all the questions and I'll make sure that
we answer them in the order you gave it or not,
I may have to ask for some means of being able to have
a means to get back to you with the detailed answers later.
In terms of our engagement with our disabled
and aging citizens beyond the Medical Baseline customers,
we have been again that again, leveraging our relationship
with the California Foundation for Independent Living
that basically provides us the means to support
that community as you stated
beyond the Medical Baseline customer population.
And that really evolved between this power
and transportation solutions for this community.
And that means that we're able to ensure
that we don't have any safety challenges
for this vulnerable community.
In terms of our notifications,
we are having talks about timing.
I mentioned three days for public safety partners,
for our community at large,
we are moving to a two day notification.
And in that notification it speaks directly to the event
itself in terms of the parcel
from a kind of area we had both buffer
areas that in some ways did not align with the address.
We now move to specific parcel where we proceed
a PSPS event happening.
And then we have that updated one day before the event
and then of course, just prior to the actual activation.
It gives you the time frame for the time we plan to initiate
all the events and again the location within a time frame
starting with two days.
And then of course, one day we can call PSPS in the morning
and then of course the actual activation.
And then we'll update you during the event
and then also of course when has given
when they have started the restoration process.
I'll ask Laurie 'cause you captured some of the questions
that involve the batteries and other parts of the question,
could you weigh in on those?
Laurie: I would be happy to and Melissa thank you
so much for the questions
and if we don't answer them completely,
we would really like to invite the opportunity to meet
with you to review these programs as not only a customer
within PG&E but somebody who is
supporting this community at large.
So Michael, spoke to the notifications.
We've also enhanced the notifications to provide
the notifications in 13 languages.
We've recorded and that will be on our website as well.
We've also, as we rebuilt the website, one of the challenges
last year was simultaneous publishing.
So, one of the challenges we had was English was published
first, then the languages were coming online
after English was posted.
We've built the capability to provide simultaneous
publishing as we're providing updates.
And then in addition to that, we've been working with all
of our agency partners to ensure that the website obviously
is ADA compliant and accessible for all customers.
We've also, we'll be prerecording notifications
in American Sign Language, so those will be available.
As it relates to the battery program, our battery program
right now is focused on really leveraging our third parties
to help us distribute to the customers that have the highest
need during an event.
And we realize these events are dynamic.
So we'd be happy to spend a little bit more time with you
and walk you through what that program will look like.
And then really as we look at CFILC, the partnership
with them is, we don't consider it a pilot
as we go into this year.
We're really building a longterm relationship with them.
We have a number of the CFILC regions that sit on
our local PG&E advisory council.
And we'll be bringing that information
back up to the state council as well.
So we're building partnerships beyond CFILC,
so that we can support the AFN community
because we know that community and customer support
for this class of customers, which is very broad,
is unique to the customer's needs.
And so we're trying to build programs that will be flexible
and responsive to those needs.
But I think we got most of your questions,
but I would be happy to follow up with my team.
As I know you're part of the council to go through the
details of our programs.
And certainly we would now invite your feedback on ways
that we can improve or expand if we've missed something.
-: [President Batjer] Okay, Melissa.
So, thank you Melissa for your call.
Operator is there anyone else on the line?
Operator: Yes, the next comment is from Joseph Mitchell,
your line is now open.
Joseph: Hi, this is Joseph Mitchell
with Mussey Grade Road Alliance
and we've been working with the CPUC
on power line fire and public safety shutoff issues
for a number of years.
We had a question regarding emergency re-energization.
During power shutoff customers have reduced ability
to learn about and report emergency information
and to conduct evacuations.
Some news reports regarding the 2019 Kincade Fire,
detailed difficulty of residents trying to evacuate
during a power shutoff.
Are there any plans to notify customers or re-energize
equipment if customers in power shutoff areas
are threatened by wildfires, regardless of whether
these fires are ignited by utility equipment?
-: Thank you for the question, Mr. Mitchell.
So, when there is an active wildfire,
we fall under the complete authority of Cal Fire
and they direct our actions accordingly
based on their leadership.
It is important of course, this was simply comes into play,
that we do not have any, if you will conflict in terms
of the operating area that Cal Fire personnel
may be involved in.
So, we stand ready to support Cal Fire to enable evacuations
if you can do so, we energize the circuit
or not based on their guidance.
Joseph: Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator: The next comment is from Pete Wyody,
your line is now open.
Pete: Morning Commissioners
and thank you for holding this space.
My name is Pete Wyode,, I'm with the Reclaim Our Power
Utility Justice Campaign.
You heard many of our voices over
the course of the spring.
We are a alliance of over 75 organizations representing
tens of hundreds of thousands of low income people,
people from fire, survivor communities,
people from indigenous and people of color communities
and immigrant communities who are fighting
for a transformation of the energy system.
And we certainly see centralizing the defense of people's
lives instead of the value of corporate profits,
as the way towards the safe and reliable energy system.
At that, I appreciate the time today.
I just wanna point to some things that we haven't heard
from PG&E today and recognizing that, one,
that all of the material that I've seen from the CPUC
and others denotes that PG&E is way behind
on all of the efforts to provide wildfire mitigation.
And that is somewhere in the area of 40 to 60% behind all
the plans for anything from vegetation management
to PSPS response.
And so I hope that that is taken into account.
Then obviously with the representatives from PG&E
have said today as they're doing their job
and obviously strive as they may, but it sounds like we're
way far behind in some specific areas.
One being the mentioning that we work a lot
with the disability justice community.
3,000 batteries that have not been deployed yet,
we'd love to hear why they haven't been deployed yet.
It's way, way insufficient and I honestly
would love to hear what the plans
are to speed up that allocation
and deployment of those resources.
The tenant education, we'd love to hear more about
obviously it's nice to put up a flyer every once in a while,
but we're getting deeper into that.
Are customers informed how to use a generator safely?
And then so the risk of wildfires are not increased to that.
Why are the batteries and the open houses,
were told to reference already, that we haven't seen
these advertised events in fire survivor communities
that we work with and so I would love to hear,
obviously the message is not getting far enough out.
It sounds like there's a over reliance on CFILC,
an organization that we've worked closely with in the past
and love to hear beyond that institution
what are the other organizations working with disability,
justice communities that folks that are connected to.
And just further, I'd love to hear from the Commission
or from representatives of PG&E itself,
how this all fits into the passage of SB 350
as the standing up of Golden State energy.
And at what point do you all have a clear eye on,
at what point the work has been insufficient
as it has been for decades and hundreds of lives
have been lost because of that.
At what point does CPUC recognize that this is not
the entity that should be running our energy system
and presses the button to transfer us to a different energy
system and stand up Golden State Energy and move us towards
a democratic state, people centered
not a profit centered energy system?
So, I'd love to hear specifics on that too.
Thank you for your time.
-: May I?
-: [President Batjer] Yes, Mr. Lewis, please go ahead.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
So, first thank you for the question Mr. Wyode.
Let me begin by speaking directly to our plans
to build resiliency reliable state grid
for the communities we serve.
We have this year set pretty aggressive goals in terms
of system hardening and a hand meditation management
to address the gap that you mentioned.
Of course, we have a walk ahead of us and we will continue
to with a sense of urgency, pursue those outcomes in a way
to facilitate a safer grid.
We will continue to look for ways to increase the number
of miles in both of those areas by different engineering
standards, construction standards and that work is underway.
We can all know, you all know that this is our,
if you will, year two at this and as I judge our progress
at this point, while I cannot speak to the past,
I can speak directly to what we are doing now
and I will say that our current efforts is definitely
benchmarked with everything that's happening in our industry
all throughout the world, actually.
So, but we have still work to do and we will not stop
until you get the work done.
In terms of communication and in terms of public safety
which includes generation safety, we do have a robust
and a series of calendar that we use to continually speak
to the challenges of the safety issues around our product.
Electricity is very dangerous.
No matter how you connect with it and including backup
generation, we will take your input into consideration
in terms of you still, there's still that gap,
if we can close in that space, we'll get back with you
and see how we can do that.
We are not in any way adverse to expanding
our partnership to engage the community, we need to get
close to and should we have, we will continue to work
with the current organizations because they have been
effective in reaching into these communities
we're struggling, we have not.
And so I'll stop there and ask Laurie,
do you have anything to add to what I've stated?
Laurie: No Michael, I think you articulated that well
and I would appreciate the opportunity
for our team to meet with you directly and walk you through
in more detailed our programs, get your feedback,
get your insight and help us determine if we're missing,
or we have gaps in certain areas.
But I think, I think Michael covered it.
We are trying, we are really working with all
of our partners to provide the best service
at the right time for our customers,
especially our vulnerable customers.
But I would really welcome your feedback
and engagement on this subject.
-: President Batjer, can I ask a followup question?
-: Yes please, Martha.
-: Thank you. -: Go ahead.
-: I think it would be really helpful, Mitchell,
if you could follow up with a bit more of a work plan,
perhaps using the same format of SDGE,
on where you're targeted and your part...
On the issue of these batteries and the investments
of where you're targeting you substance overarching goal
3,000 but if you could get more specific,
you've mentioned a couple of technologies
that you plan on deploying
and the SDGE just in their high level presentation
had geographical targets, had technology targets
and have sub-population targets.
So you're hearing now from the public that some of this
should be in place now and frankly, some of it is in place
in other territories, these investments.
So if you could give us a bit more of a detailed work plan,
you have a format you could follow up on SDG&Es
and a timeline that we can actually see tracked progress.
And secondly, I do want a response to the question
for those directed at us and obviously performance on PSPS,
both in terms of prevention, collaboration with local
governments and communities and first responders
and reconnecting energy, re-energizing,
all of those performance metrics are incorporated into our
enforcement triggers and eventually do lead into this
broader question of the Golden State Energy.
So, I think this is absolutely directly related
to what we're tracking and it will be a part
of the construct that was established at you.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, thank you for the direction.
I wanna just clarify were at citations Commissioner,
that you want a detailed work plan regarding
that battery deployment strategy.
Did I capture that correctly?
Martha: Yes, and particularly with your medically
vulnerable customers.
-: Thank you.
-: [President Batjer] Thank you, Commissioner.
I'm gonna turn to the next commenter.
Operator, would you open the line to the next caller?
Operator: The next caller is Will Abrams,
your line is now open.
Will: Thank you very much, I really appreciate
the Commission holding this important public hearing.
And I particularly appreciate PG&E stepping forward
and providing this great information.
I think Commissioner Guzman Aceves, makes an important
point in terms of a schedule and work plan
for PG&E moving forward.
A lot of the discussion today talks about
what will be happening moving forward.
And that seems like a great discussion
for maybe a couple months ago.
We're well into wildfire season now and as a wildfire
survivor who last year went through six power shutoffs,
I'm in the process of preparing my family
and my community for what we're going to do
in the case of a power shutoff.
But I don't have information from PG&E
about what they're going to do,
about what the municipalities are gonna do
and what is my responsibility as a father and a husband
about what I need to take onboard.
I don't know what is occurring at the resource centers
and when those will be put forward.
I don't know where my resource center will be located.
Having that information ahead of time before wildfire
season is really important, because we know communications
are strained in the hours leading up to power shutoffs.
We don't know what those resources are.
We don't know what the COVID procedures are,
so that we can be prepared,
whether we'll need to be prepared with those safety measures
or those will be provided on site.
Also, trying to understand how
the communications from PG&E are gauged.
Obviously PG&E has very specific communication tools
around their advertising and PR campaigns to understand
that they were effectively providing their messages.
So where are the results for their communications
around PSPS events?
Are customers aware of how to use the generator?
What is the percentage of customers that have been
effectively communicated are ready,
versus customers that are not?
Those things are things that should be publicly available
to the public to understand where PG&E
is in terms of their work plan.
Another question I have
is around mutual assistance agreements.
So, PG&E discussed the possibility of having mutual
assistance agreements with the other IOUs
in the case of power shutoffs, to be able to use resources
across companies so that we can leverage economies of scale.
And I think lastly, I just wanna reiterate a point
that Joe Mitchell made which is very important,
which is when power is restored
what is the role of residents?
What is the role of PG&E replacing on the ground
inspections with helicopters and drones
certainly makes it,
but does it make it as effective in terms
of making sure that we're safe before we throw that power
backup on and if a resident sees something,
how do they report it?
How can they be part of the solution to support PG&E?
Thank you very much, I appreciate it.
-: May I, President Batjer?
-: Yes, Michael, Mr. Lewis, please go ahead.
-: Thank you.
Thank you for the questions and comment Mr. Abrams.
I really appreciate your insightful insights,
in terms of exactly views about what we are
and where we need to be.
So, let me just start by speaking about where we stand
in our readiness for this year.
So as I spoke to earlier regarding our,
make the event smaller,
we will be fully operational to realize entire benefits
of our effort over the last nine months
to make this make these events smaller and shorter.
And that speaks to the backup generation
assess a lot of the devices, the modeling techniques.
Those will all be operational.
If we get into the throws of PSPS season,
which will be occurring here
as we have a September 1st deadline.
So, in terms of the CRCs and how they were deployed
and the communication involving them, as you know,
they are event specific and so our means,
which has been primarily how we had engaged
in all these activities is to collaborate with our counties.
We have learned the hard way that we do not have the ability
to really reach into communities effectively on our own.
We try that, you can use websites,
various other channels where we've learned
to really be effective in this space is to be partnering
with our counties and tribes to ensure that they were able
to point us in the right direction to close any gaps
that we have in our communication strategy.
The CRC is just one of those examples
because they will be providing us where of the 80 sites.
They may not need all the sites that accountable.
They maybe have one or two areas they want us to activate
and at that time that the communication to the community,
to that citizens in that community will be informed that CRC
is our duty and our objective to ensure we have a wide
range of options to use in case of the event that may occur.
In terms of, I wanna speak directly to the issue
about restoration because it has a public safety
and workforce safety is paramount in everything that we do.
And helicopters provide us, first of all, to be clear,
there are two individuals along with the power
in the helicopter during the patrol,
not the pilot, is two individuals it examined the mind
having a good view of not just the line,
but the trees around the line to ensure that the lines
are clear before they're energized.
The ground control, is a compliment of that as well.
They go places where the helicopters cannot go.
And so that combination of ground and air support
does two things.
It ensures the highest probability of us being a driving
without a safety at that and the speed to get through
the process, because we know every minute there's no power
there's safety risks for the communities we serve.
So we have to balance those two very important objectives
and hit the mark in both in quality, which is the quality
of those sections and also the speed.
And should we get it done in a way that we can get our
community back energized.
I may not have captured all your comments,
but I'd be willing to take a note
and we can get back with you about to address
any of these questions you raised.
Will: Thank you very much, I appreciate that.
-: Thank you, Mr. Abrams
-: [President Batjer] Thank you, Mr. Abrams.
And I'm going to now turn to the operator,
is there anyone else on the line?
Operator: The next comment is from Dan Peddycord,
your line is now open.
Dan: Hi, this is Dan Peddycord.
I'm the Public Health Director in Contra Costa County.
And my question has to do with PG&E's plans to provide,
I think you called them Yeti batteries and other solar
services to medically vulnerable customers that are part
of their Medical Baseline Program.
So my specific request would be to work with the counties
who have access to the CMS empowered database,
which name identifies particular patients
who are using what I would call medically critical
equipment power dependent in their homes.
And we have a tiered risk stratification that identifies,
for example, someone that's on an oxygen generator,
someone who's keeping their dialysis medication
in a refrigerator.
So, we are, I have to, excuse me, let me mute my computer
here 'cause I'm here listening to myself speak.
If we could figure out a way to partner with PG&E
and perhaps extend through the county who has access
to this protected health information, ways to route
some of these resources to customers that we believe
are most critically dependent on power in their homes.
-: President Batjer, may I respond?
-: Yes, please, Mr. Lewis, please, go ahead.
-: Thank you.
So great idea and again looking for ways to continue
to expand out partnerships.
And so I'll ask Laurie to respond and follow up, Laurie.
Dan: Thank you.
Laurie: Dan, thank you very much for that feedback.
And I was personally at some of our listening sessions
and specifically Dr. Karen from Napa
indicated the same opportunity for us.
We'll work with you and the other county health officials.
Obviously we have to protect HIPAA data
as you know, but we don't want that to be an inhibitor.
So we'll work with you to find a way to leverage the data
without compromising privacy so that we can maximize
the distribution of services to these critical customers.
And again, batteries may not be the single solution
or the best solution for a given customer,
which is why we're offering a menu of options
with our partners to ensure that we can serve
these customers that need special services
in the best way possible.
So I really appreciate the comment
and we will follow up with you.
Dan: Thank you very much for that.
-: And thank you, Mr. Peddycord.
This to Laurie and to Michael Lewis, this goes to what
Director Ghilarducci was talking about earlier,
regarding that in real time we had to get a legal clearance
for you all to know who were the Medical Baseline
individuals and I think you responded that you've taken care
of that, that it's all in good hands.
So I think this is one step deeper and I hope you can add
this to those things that are already checked
and that are under, not on a planning stage
but are underway.
And that you- -: If I-
-: [President Batjer] Now.
-: Understood and we will look at that as well.
So, to me, as I stated earlier, it's really
how do you define your public safety partners?
And this is a suggestion that I think that was raised.
It was a good suggestion is that we expand the public safety
department definition to include all this,
the County Health Association, I mean, organization.
So that would be what we follow up on.
-: I think it was really to the point of the empowered
database that Dan was speaking to
and that how do you get access to that?
So, you have the awareness of those folks
that have medically necessary needs.
So, I think this is quite urgent.
I hope you can meet with Dan and other county
public safety officials.
-: President Batjer? -: Yes?
-: This was a similar suggestion
made during one of our Lake County visits
again where the county public health officer
also attended not only mentioned the ability to identify
these citizens, residents and obviously customers of PG&E.
They also had recommendations about very site specific needs
for the CRCs in their county.
And knowing their population to geographical distribution,
they had the county health officer there.
He mentioned part of the northern part of Lake County
being a particular hotspot for them
for the medically vulnerable population.
So, these health officers know the needs in their county
residents and they know demographics
and obviously the identification.
So, this is not a new recommendation coming to PG&E,
and I certainly hope that the public health officers
have a direct line of communication.
People with the local liaisons answer the public safety
liaison for PG&E.
-: Yes, I wanna understand- -: Thank you.
-: [President Batjer] We're the same.
I think this is an urgency Michael,
that you really need to engage with the public health
officers on having access to the entire database.
-: Understood and we'll follow up.
-: Then I'm gonna check in the next, 'cause our team meets
with your team every other week, I'm gonna have this as one
of our questions that is ongoing for you to report into us.
-: Yes Ma'am, you will have many reports that'll be followed
up on by our team.
-: [President Batjer] Okay, I really appreciate that.
Operator I understand there are no more callers,
is that accurate?
Operator: Yes, that is correct.
-: Okay, thank you operator.
And I just want to thank all of those
who have called in today.
There seems to be no more callers on the line.
So, I wanna particularly thank PG&E for your informative
presentation and for answering all the questions we have.
I wanna thank my fellow Commissioners for all
of their efforts and good questions and thoughts.
And I want to particularly thank also
our esteemed colleagues from Cal OES and Cal Fire,
specifically Director Ghilarducci and Chief Porter.
So, thank you all for your participation.
These have been very helpful briefings this week.
I greatly appreciate all of the efforts that our team
here at the PUC, Rachel Peterson
and Caroline, Thomas Jacobs and each of the colleagues
and my own chief of staff, Shannon O'Rourke
who all worked very hard
to put these briefings together and I appreciate it greatly.
And I appreciate our colleagues that have helped us
also at Cal OES and at Cal Fire putting
the briefings together.
So, with that the meeting is closed.
Thank you all very much for your participation.
-: Bye bye.
-: This concludes- -: Thank you.
Operator: All participants may-