By Jaxon Van Derbeken, NBC BAY AREA
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/pge-electricity-service-delays/4162462/
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is warning about 25,000 prospective customers that they could be forced to wait as long as six months beyond their scheduled connection dates to get power, as the utility postpones $2 billion in planned spending amid uncertainty over wildfire liability and financing costs.
In a letter sent to potential customers the utility ackowledges the delays could pose a hardship to customers who hoped to be hooked up next year. Data centers as well as larger residential developments and clean-energy projects that depend on new electrical service could also suffer. But PG&E says postponing the spending will help avoid unnecessary long-term rate increases and keep electricity costs as low as possible for its existing customers.
The utility says it is not delaying safety projects but is reassessing its business model to account for the financing uncertainties due to wildfire risk.
The announcement comes as PG&E, and other California utilities, continue to press state lawmakers for relief from future costs of wildfire liability. Consumer advocates argue that the company is holding out service hookups to exert pressure on lawmakers, after legislators balked at calling a special legislative session sought by the governor to consider additional protections for utilities.
“They’re saying if we don’t get our bailout on wildfire liability, we’re not going to hook up your electricity,” said Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog. “It’s pure, pure blackmail. They have the money.”
Court and other ratepayer advocates contend that much of the money PG&E says it is deferring has already been factored into existing electricity rates, raising questions about whether customers would see any additional benefit from the delay.
The dispute over delayed service connections is already playing out in San Francisco, where city officials want to take over PG&E’s electric grid. The city has cited delays in getting projects connected to the grid as one of several reasons they’re seeking to take over the grid.
PG&E this week told state regulators that San Francisco’s proposed takeover could cost $22.5 billion, including the value of the utility’s existing assets, and the expense of separating its electrical infrastructure from a new city-owned system.
The city told regulators that it’s estimates show the utility’s assets are worth $3.4 billion, far less than the utility’s value of $13.9 billion. The balance of PG&E’s estimated costs, roughly $8 billion, covers the construction of a separate power substation to isolate the city’s grid from PG&E’s system.
City officials have disputed PG&E estimates, calling the projected cost vastly inflated. Ultimately regulators would set the final purchase price.
