California residents face up to 10 years of widespread, precautionary forced power shut-offs until Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., the bankrupt utility giant, will be able to prevent its power transmission lines from sparking fires, the company’s top official said. “What we saw play out by PG&E last week cannot be repeated,” commission President Marybel Batjer said Friday, according to prepared remarks. No wildfires occurred but inspections found more than 100 instances of damage, including trees and branches in standing and downed power lines. Newsom has been sharply critical of the utility and called on its officials to provide restitution to customers. Another utility, Southern California Edison, was weighing potential power shut-offs that could affect some customers in Inyo, Kern and Los Angeles counties.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 19, 2019 15:00 UTC