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PG&E official pitches safety-reporting app to Foster City council
Summary
A PG&E local-government affairs representative demonstrated a photo-based safety-reporting app that routes citizen reports to PG&E public-safety teams; councilors asked about integration with the city’s existing service app and were told integration is unlikely but the app serves as an extra reporting layer.
Marjorie Ruiz Idalgo, PG&E’s local government affairs representative, told the Foster City Estero Municipal Improvement District board on March 16 that PG&E offers a customer-facing safety-reporting app available on iOS, Android and through a web browser. “It allows members of the public to take pictures of anything, any areas of concern,” she said, adding submissions are assigned to a public-safety team and can be tracked by the person who filed the report.
The app, Ruiz Idalgo said, is intended to supplement existing inspections and monitoring tools — including drone and helicopter inspections — and not to replace emergency services. “Please do not use it to replace 911,” she said, urging residents to call 911 for emergent hazards such as the smell of gas.
Council members asked whether PG&E’s app could be integrated with Foster City’s municipal reporting system. Ruiz Idalgo said merging private and public systems is complicated and would likely raise questions about responsibilities and data flows; she described the PG&E app instead as an additional layer that would increase accountability because users can track a submission’s status and see PG&E findings.
The presentation was given during the meeting’s public-comment period. Ruiz Idalgo said she would follow up with city staff and provide contact information so the city and community members could learn how to use the tool.
The council took no formal action on the PG&E presentation. The exchange concluded with council members thanking Ruiz Idalgo for the information and staff acknowledging they would coordinate follow-up communications.
