Tales From the Dark: Why My Power Is Still Out 10 Days After a Storm — and Counting

Source: KQED  |  By Farida Jhabvala Romero

I never paid much attention to my house’s electrical panel, until a huge blue spruce next door crashed down on our driveway and adjacent power lines, ripping my panel off the wall during a storm on January 4.

Luckily, we can cook, take showers and keep our refrigerator and cell phones going at our place thanks to a noisy generator that we run from morning to dusk. But extended outages could spell disaster for others. Households where residents may be using medical equipment essential for life are especially at risk, said Mark Toney, who directs TURN, The Utility Reform Network, in San Francisco.

But Toney said most of those who are eligible don’t know about the program and may not be getting the help they need.

“PGE must work closer with county health departments, closer with community based organizations that are serving vulnerable populations to build up the list of medical baseline to get more people signed up so that they can be reached when we have these emergencies,” said Toney.