This week, Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) submitted a letter to Marybel Batjer, president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), demanding the immediate stoppage of power shutoffs known as Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) conducted by investor owned utilities (IOUs).
Since Oct. 9, millions of Californians across the state had their power shut off by utilities who reportedly neglected their infrastructure updates for decades. Nearly 10,000 residents around the Antelope Valley region are currently without power. Here is a statement from Lackey:
“These power shutoffs are ludicrous and wholly unjustifiable,” Lackey said. “Ratepayers and consumers are being forced to deal with the consequences of a decade’s worth of poor decision-making by utility companies. This kind of situation is exactly why I voted against SB 901 in 2018. Californians need more transparency, not less; now their health and safety is being jeopardized just so big utility companies aren’t held liable for the damage they are doing to our communities.”
SB 901 (2018) required utility companies, among other things, to create and submit a wildfire mitigation plan to the CPUC. One of the components to the wildfire mitigation plan was to create protocols for power shutoffs.
