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PG&E apologizes for Dec. 20 Mission Substation outage; announces credits and claims process; supervisors demand accountability
Summary
PG&E acknowledged it failed to meet standards during the Dec. 20 outages that affected roughly 130,000 customers, said repairs at the Mission Substation were completed Jan. 20, announced automatic bill credits (residential $200; business $2,500) and an expedited claims process, and committed to improvements in restoration estimates and coordination with city agencies. Supervisors and residents pressed for clearer communications, better prioritization of vulnerable customers, and independent investigation.
PG&E executives told the Board committee they take responsibility for the Dec. 20 Mission Substation fire and the cascading outages that affected roughly one-third of San Francisco customers, apologized for inaccurate restoration estimates, and described immediate remedial steps.
"We take responsibility for the outage that took place last December," PG&E CEO Sameet Singh said, acknowledging that approximately 130,000 customers lost power and that communications and restoration-time estimates were at times inaccurate.
PG&E said it completed repairs to the Mission Substation on Jan. 20, has opened a third-party investigation into the cause with initial findings expected in March, and has implemented rapid-response changes to improve estimate accuracy. Chief Customer Officer Vincent Davis told the committee PG&E issued "automatic bill credits to the tune of approximately $50,000,000": residential customers were credited $200 and nonresidential customers $2,500, and PG&E has an expedited claims process for larger losses. PG&E reported it had received about 2,750 claims and said roughly 90% of processed claims have been resolved as of the hearing.
Supervisors pushed PG&E on a wide set of operational questions: why estimated times of restoration (ETRs) were repeatedly revised, why city liaisoning and DEM notification lagged, how many medical-baseline customers lost power and what outreach occurred, and how the utility prioritized restoration. PG&E described machine-learning models that generate initial ETRs and said it is instituting a rapid escalation process and additional human review for localized, complex incidents. PG&E acknowledged the algorithm's training data favored distribution outages and said it will expand training and human oversight for large, localized events.
City emergency officials and the fire department described coordination challenges on Dec. 20. Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the Department of Emergency Management, said DEM detected the outage at 01:18PM, requested a PG&E liaison (who arrived around 03:00PM), and activated emergency plans; she and Fire Department Operations Chief Patrick Rabbit recommended more digital substation plans and clearer notification protocols.
Merchants described major losses of perishable inventory and difficulty navigating PG&E's claim guidance. Sean Kim, an ice-cream shop owner, warned the eight-page loss-calculation guide is impractical for small businesses. Merchant witnesses and supervisors urged PG&E to produce plain-language claim forms, streamlined in-language assistance, and standardized, non-waiving settlement agreements.
After extended questioning and public comment, Supervisor Wong moved to continue the item and require PG&E to return with updated data, measurable commitments and initial investigation findings; the committee voted to continue the hearing and hold a follow-up on root causes and infrastructure.
