PG&E Zones, Blocks and Rolling Blackouts...

[Joe Guy]

First of all, I know I'm probably one of the lucky people here when it comes to weather. Severe weather is unusual but that seems to be changing.

Anyway, I received notice from PG&E, my gas and electricity provider, that yesterday and likely through tomorrow my residence is a "block" that could be subject to a "Rolling Blackout" this week. Yesterday, I had about a 45 minute electrical outage, which PG&E claimed was weather related and unplanned. In fact, when I went to the PG&E website and checked their "outage map" I saw that a lot of California was experiencing unplanned blackouts. Hmmm... makes me wonder.

So anyway,I received an email notice from PG&E that contained a link to their website that said something like, "The following 'Blocks" are areas where you may be subject to "rotating outages" if or when it becomes necessary. I discovered that my block is Block 5P. It is included on a list of blocks on their website that might get their electricity blocked. I highly doubt (and soberly too) that they mean blocks as in street blocks. The problem is that I can't find anywhere on the internet - including PG&E, PUC or anywhere on Google, a location that shows the geographical boundaries for each of the many "PG&E blocks". I just foolishly assumed PG&E would have a map that would answer my question. Boy, was I wrong! BTW - it reached 108 here yesterday before the power went out. PG&E said my outage was "weather related", not a "rolling blackout". I think that was supposed to make me feel better and maybe it did to a degree...

If you've made it this far into my post, you're probably wondering why I posted this post.

So am I.

Stay cool and be healthy.

-Joe Guy (for no particular reason)

[MajGenl.Meade]

Eskom South Africa is so much more advanced than your PG&E. Offensive though - "he/she" instead of he/she/it. South Africans often say "she/it" when they read this:

If load shedding is declared for the 1st of month in this example then someone in Blouberg, Alldays Dorp would look at the corresponding date (as depicted in the picture below):
– if Eskom declared Stage 1, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 03:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 2, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 03:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 3, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 03:30 AND 17:00 – 19:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 4, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 03:30 AND 09:00 – 11:30 AND 17:00 – 19:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 5, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 05:30 AND 09:00 – 11:30 AND 17:00 – 19:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 6, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 05:30 AND 09:00 – 11:30 AND 17:00 – 19:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 7, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 05:30 AND 09:00 – 11:30 AND 17:00 – 21:30
– if Eskom declared Stage 8, this would mean he/she would be shed from 01:00 – 05:30 AND 09:00 – 13:30 AND 17:00 – 21:30

I bet you yearn for this kind of detail (they have charts and tables). You may wonder why stages 4 thru 8 are all the same. They are not. Stage 8 is on seven days of the week; 7 is on 6; and so on. Or rather, 'OFF'

[Bicycle Bill]

Just curious ... if PG&E tells you that they are not going to be able to provide the services for which you are being billed due to "rotating outages" or "rolling blackouts", as opposed to a "weather-related" outage or something else that is an "Act of God" or some other force majeure — such as earthquakes, landslides, or California wildfires taking out the power plants or the transmission lines, are you given a credit for this?

I'll wait for the uproarious laughter to die down before I ask, "Why not?"

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

Don't they measure kwH (or kWh or KWh) used by the consumer? In the good old days, one was billed for the amount of electricity leaking through a meter . . . I know that in South Africa, if your electricity isn't turned on (by you or Eskom), you are not billed for not using the non-supplied volts, amps, watts, curies and wobbly bits

[Bicycle Bill]

Don't they measure kwH (or kWh or KWh) used by the consumer? In the good old days, one was billed for the amount of electricity leaking through a meter . . . I know that in South Africa, if your electricity isn't turned on (by you or Eskom), you are not billed for not using the non-supplied volts, amps, watts, curies and wobbly bits.

True enough, but you can pull every fuse or trip every circuit breaker in the place, and you'll still end up getting a bill every month for a 'connection charge' that doesn't vary.  In effect, you are paying for the privilege of being connected, whether anything is flowing into the building or not.

Then, of course, when one first connected to PG&E, there was the implied contract that these services would be available to you at a time of YOUR choosing.  If they are not able to do so because of actions they are taking, then they have reneged on that implied contract and a financial adjustment is only proper.

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

I don't know about about California, but when we lost coverage for an extended period (12 days in my case) after a hurricane (it actually happened twice, 7 days in the other instance) we received a prorated rebate in the connection charge; it was a lot more than other utilities (phone or cable internet) did, and I got no rebate on my property taxes even though the roads were impassible and the lights didn't work ditto for when there is a blizzard and it takes more than two days to plow my street). FWIW, then I would have been more than happy to have rolling blackouts, but no, it was off for all those days.

[Long Run]

We are following the request to use less electricity, especially AC, so that the Nor-Cal grid can direct more your way, and with 25 degrees of separation happy to do so. Also, we are seeing one of the limitations of all-electric cars as such car owners are being directed to not "fill up" during peak hours (pretty much waking hours). Heat wave is supposed to break late tomorrow, so stay safe and as cool as you can until then, Joe.

[BoSoxGal]

Didn’t the Texas power grid charge outrageous surcharges to its customers after they suffered a blackout during freezing temperatures that caused many deaths?

At least you are lucky to live in a state with sensible utility regulations.

Pro tip for heatwave tolerance: sit very still and have a fan blow air on your body. Drink lots of water. Watch documentaries set in the Arctic or Antarctic.

[Joe Guy]

Just curious ... if PG&E tells you that they are not going to be able to provide the services for which you are being billed due to "rotating outages" or "rolling blackouts", as opposed to a "weather-related" outage or something else that is an "Act of God" or some other force majeure — such as earthquakes, landslides, or California wildfires taking out the power plants or the transmission lines, are you given a credit for this?

I remember having a couple rotating outages in the 1990s and they were under 2 hours. I didn't think about getting any type of credit on my bill because I knew they wouldn't be billing me for power I didn't use. In those days my total gas and electric was usually in the 30 dollar range so if I got a credit, I didn't notice and I doubt it would have been much.

In the recent blackout notices, PG&E didn't mention anything about customers included in rotating outages getting credits.