What will the next heavy winds bring? Assessing California's massive power shutdown
SAN FRANCISCO - Less than a week after utilities shut off power to hundreds of thousands of customers up and down California, experts and regulators are beginning to assess what went wrong and what the future portends.
Pacific Gas & Electric cut power to more than 700,000 customers in 34 counties on Oct. 9 because of high winds. Some households were without electricity for 72 hours, a spokesman said. Southern California Edison shut off electricity to more than 24,000 customers, starting on the same day.
The biggest failure, experts and customers alike said, was communication. Residents complained they did not receive adequate notice of the shutdown or no notice at all and could not get on the utilities' websites.
