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California officials are unhappy with PG&E's power shutoffs

Ben Geman, author of Generate

A sign calling PG&E to turn the power back on. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

California regulators and the state's governor are not happy — at all — with how PG&E executed its power shutoffs last week aimed at preventing wildfires.

Why it matters: The pre-emptive shutdowns affected roughly 2 million people and show how power companies will need to confront risks heightened by climate change.

Driving the news: The California Public Utilities Commission CPUC yesterday ordered PG&E to take a series of "corrective actions."

  • “Failures in execution, combined with the magnitude of this [Public Safety Power Shut-off] event, created an unacceptable situation that should never be repeated,” CPUC president Marybel Batjer said in a letter to the company.

What's next: The wide-ranging letter demands steps aimed at better communications (such as ensuring its website doesn't crash again); faster power restoration after such events; better information sharing with local governments; more transparent decision-making, providing better maps showing the boundaries of outages, and a lot more.

Meanwhile, per The Los Angeles Times ...

  • "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged Pacific Gas & Electric to provide $100 rebates to residential customers affected by last week’s unprecedented power shut-offs, asserting that the company’s communication failures 'put lives at risk.'"

Go deeper: PG&E outages could cost California more than $2 billion

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: Protests outside fortified capitols draw only small groups

Armed members of the far-right extremist group the Boogaloo Bois near the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Jan. 17. About 20 protesters showed up, AP notes. Photo: Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images

Small groups of protesters rallied outside fortified statehouses over the weekend ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration Wednesday.

The big picture: Some protests attracted armed members of far-right extremist groups but there were no reports of clashes, as had been feared. The National Guard and law enforcement outnumbered demonstrators, as security was heightened around the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, per AP.

See photos (<1 min. read)Arrow
Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump to issue at least 100 pardons and commutations before leaving office

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump plans to issue at least 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, sources familiar with the matter told Axios.

Why it matters: This is a continuation of the president's controversial December spree that saw full pardons granted to more than two dozen people — including former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, longtime associate Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

  • The pardons set to be issued before Trump exits the White House will be a mix of criminal justice ones and pardons for people connected to the president, the sources said.
  • CNN first reported this news.

Go deeper: Convicts turn to D.C. fixers for Trump pardons

Stef W. Kight, Kadia Goba
6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Schumer's m(aj)ority checklist

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Capitalizing on the Georgia runoffs, achieving a 50-50 Senate and launching an impeachment trial are weighty to-dos for getting Joe Biden's administration up and running on Day One.

What to watch: A blend of ceremonies, hearings and legal timelines will come into play on Tuesday and Wednesday so Chuck Schumer can actually claim the Senate majority and propel the new president's agenda.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

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