If I didn’t know better, I would think it was a Comcast/Infinity outage…

I can’t count the number of times I have sent messages to Governor Newsom, begging him to break up PG&E. It is long overdue.

We walk this neighborhood frequently and a see the inept solutions PG&E keeps throwing at the problem. Every time (and it's happened more than the two times mentioned in this story) the power goes out, sidewalks and roads are ripped up, the line is patched and then it's all put back together. Multiple large trucks and different work crews are pulled in from Arizona and other places that PG&E pulls subcontractors from. It always happens during the most inconvenient evening or early morning and weekend times, probably costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each time (probably much, much more). The crew during this last outage said that the line going down the street is deteriorated and that the problem will continue to happen - not just here but likely for the broader neighborhood with buried lines that are aged like these. Why aren't we requiring that buried lines get put into pipes so that they can be pulled out and replaced more easily - or using sidewalk material that can be reused like pavers if the line gets damaged? Had PG&E done this on the section of the street they keep ripping up - they would have at least saved on the cost of digging and patching up the street again. Maybe Mountain View can start to look at ways we can have a more sustainable public hardscape to avoid waste? A more permanent and lasting fix is needed for these residents.