Blaming the Victim - When you burn, SDG&E earns

In today's Union-Tribune, reporter Onell Soto is covering a story that makes many SDG&E customers feel justifiably burned.

After the most recent spate of out-of-control wildfires in San Diego County, an enormous amount of evidence has been presented showing that at least three major wildfires were started by faulty SDG&E powerlines.  Earlier this year,  SDG&E proposed shutting off power to the backcountry when the Santa Ana winds kicked in.   On the surface, this makes some sense.  But when UCAN and others dug deeper, they found that the ramifications of this policy actually INCREASED the likelihood of a fire and the damage caused by any Santa Ana-fueled fire.

Here's what the article says:  " ... school children would be trapped; firefighters would have no water; cell phones, Internet connections and cable television would fail; and even traffic lights would go dark."

In other words, SDG&E's plans to "Cut and Run" during a fire emergency will make the problem worse, not better.  UCAN's experts found a direct correlation between increased use of portable generators and fire risk.   So, with SDG&E power cut-offs, more people would be using generators and.......well, the rest is obvious

UCAN was one of the first voices to express concern about SDG&E's fire risks. Since that time, we have been joined by a broad coalition of community groups who think shutting off power at the very moment people desperately need it is a bad idea. Naturally, SDG&E is fighting the concept of corporate responsibility - it prefers to preserve its profits instead of delivering safe and reliable power to its customers. 

For more information on the SDG&E "de-energizing" proposal and UCAN's submissions,  you can click here or go to http://www.ucan.org/energy/electricity/ucan_experts_seek_blackout_sdges_....

As UCAN's Executive Director Michael Shames said in today's newspaper to the CPUC, the California Public Utilities Commission,  "You don't have to go any further." 

Punishing the victims is wrong. UCAN is urging CPUC to throw cold water on SDG&E's lust to preserve its obscene profits  fix its fire hazards, and leave the water on during fires. 

If you support this vital work to hold SDG&E accountable, then please consider supporting our efforts to fight them.