power outages News

There’s No Easy Way to End California’s Bedeviling Blackouts

California residents who were incredulous after the head of PG&E Corp. signaled a decade more of blackouts face an unnerving prospect: he may just be right. Four mass power shutoffs in a month have disrupted life in California, forcing schools …

Mass Blackouts Across California Are Coming to an End — For Now

A series of deliberate blackouts that affected millions of Californians this month is coming to an end. But wildfire season is far from over. Fierce winds that sweep in from the east each fall can whiplash the state through December, …

Los Angeles and San Francisco Don’t Lose Power Even When Their Suburbs Do

Swaths of Southern California are being plunged into darkness on purpose to prevent power lines from sparking fires during the state’s latest windstorm. But the lights are staying on in Los Angeles. Just like San Francisco, L.A. has avoided the …

As PG&E Blackouts Ebb, Southern California Wind Risk Surges

As Northern California residents began to get their power back, people in the Southern part of the state were facing some of the strongest winds “in recent memory” and utilities there were cutting service and warning blackouts could spread. PG&E …

Winds Whip California as 2.5 Million People Face Power Cuts

California utilities are warning they may cut electricity to as many as 2.5 million people to prevent power lines from sparking fires as some of the strongest winds of the season hit the state. High winds Tuesday will leave more …

Doing Business in California Costs One Blackout a Week

It was only expected to happen a couple times a year — and just as a last resort. That’s what utility giant PG&E Corp. originally said 13 months ago when it outlined plans to stage mass blackouts in Northern California …

Cutting California’s Power Is Job Nobody Wants Ahead of Blackouts

California’s governor is sparring with the state’s largest utility over who decides when to cut the power. It’s a no-win situation: As hot, dry winds sweep across the state, switching off the electricity is seen as a needed measure to …

Thousands Could Be Affected by PG&E’s Latest Planned Power Cutoffs

People in more than 180,000 homes and businesses in California could find themselves in the dark as Pacific Gas & Electric again plans to shut off power in parts of 17 counties for up to two days, as a preventive …

Viewpoint: What Do Power Outages, Wildfires, and Vaping Bans Have in Common?

At the outset, power outages, wildfires, and vaping bans do not appear similar at all, but in the rush to protect consumers and constituents from harm, companies and state legislators may be creating an entirely new, uninsured claim type. Insurance …

One Massive Blackout Is Over, Now California Braces for the Next

An unprecedented blackout that plunged millions of Californians into the darkness for days is over. And nobody can say when the next will hit. Even as PG&E Corp. declared an end to last week’s shutoffs — a deliberate move to …