PG&E pledges millions of dollars to fix power delays in Fresno. ‘This is just the start’
On the eve of a highly-anticipated meeting between Fresno politicians and Pacific Gas & Electric executives, a group of politicians announced three commitments the power provider made to home builders to better serve the Fresno area.
During a Monday meeting with the California Building Industry Association, the energy company said it will spend $86 million to rehire independent contractors to supply power to newly built Fresno homes by the end of the year so home buyers don’t lose their locked mortgage rates. The company also added a transformer manufacturing firm set to come online in January and relieve power shortages.
Those additions will boost PG&E service to all customers, not just in Fresno.
Lastly, the CBIA and PG&E agreed to form a working group to meet monthly to maintain communication and cooperation.
“We are actively working to increase the number of customers we will connect through the end of this year,” said Denny Boyles, a PG&E spokesperson, in a statement. “We’re talking directly with impacted customers to understand their immediate needs so we can prioritize our resources to have the most impact for the public good as quickly as possible. …We understand that project delays have real-world impacts and we are committed to doing right by our customers.”
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and City Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Tyler Maxwell last week called a news conference to criticize PG&E’s service to Fresno ratepayers and construction projects. Fast forward to Wednesday, and the three city officials sent a news release at least partially taking credit for the electricity company’s promises, saying the commitments were the result of Fresno leaders’ efforts.
“This is just the start. There are many more issues PG&E must improve upon for our residents and businesses, and we will ensure that happens,” the three city leaders said in a joint statement.
Meeting with California Building Industry Association
Mike Prandini, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties, was part of the Monday meeting with PG&E.
Prandini helped to alert local elected officials to PG&E’s delays in electrifying hundreds of newly built homes, leaving buyers scrambling to find housing and even causing them to lose their locked-in mortgage rates.
Overall, Prandini said he’s satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and said it was productive. Prandini said PG&E CEO Patti Poppe attended the meeting and made the commitments to the building industry association.
“I believe everybody in the CBIA felt that PG&E was making a good faith effort to provide resources to fix the problems they created when they laid off those crews,” Prandini said about the independent contractors.
Prandini didn’t speculate on whether the politicians’ news conference influenced PG&E to act. Prandini pointed out that only PG&E could say what made them act.
Fresno leaders meet with PG&E
Fresno politicians disagree on the best way to improve the electrification of new homes and other commercial and public construction projects.
The debate among Fresno’s politicians got heated last week when Fresno City Council postponed voting on a feasibility study to determine if Fresno has other energy options that will lower costs for ratepayers.
Then, Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Mike Karbassi, incoming Councilmember Annalisa Perea and Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) scheduled a meeting Thursday with PG&E officials. That meeting also is intended to improve service and rates to Fresno customers.
Both Dyer and Bredefeld welcomed their colleagues to join the conversation, but they also expressed some frustration with the group for getting involved late.
Boyles with PG&E said the company appreciates Fresno’s city and county leaders collaborating to work toward solutions for Fresno.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 3:09 PM.