MANTECA, Calif. — Ever since PG&E alerted cities all over its large service area that power could be cut during fire-favorable weather conditions, community leaders have been scrambling to come up with plans to deal with a possible days-long electricity shutoff.
Manteca has been one of the more vocal, proactive cities in expressing concerns about the shutoffs and preparing for the worst.
On Thursday evening, city leaders hosted a town hall meeting for people who live in Manteca, to share the city’s power shutoff plan and field questions.
One of the top topics was generators: Do I need to buy one and what do I need to know?
As Manteca fire battalion chief Dave Marques and fire marshal Lantz Rey explained, there are basically two kinds of generators. One is a portable, gasoline-powered generator, which they said is considered a short-term solution. Those won't power AC or run all appliances in a home. For that, a person would need the second kind of generator: a whole-home, natural gas-powered generator. Those are more expect and require a permit and electrician to install.
"A whole-home generator needs to be wired into your electrical box with an automatic transfer switch, so when you lose power, it would automatically kick on," Rey said. "A small, portable generator like the gentleman back there was talking about, that will probably run just your refridgerator, maybe a light or two...It's going to get you by a 24-, 36- hour issue. You're going to run out of gasoline."
That's a problem, he said, because gas stations could be closed after several days without power, along with grocery stores and schools.
In Manteca, emergency services like police and fire will still be functioning, as well as tap water and the sewer system. That's because Manteca plans on spending 80- thousand bucks to do things like buy more backup generators.
Beyond those services, however, Marques said, don't expect much.
“Be prepared to fend for yourself," Marques said. "Get to know your neighbors now...because they’re going to be relying on you.”
Manteca Mayor Benjamin Cantu blames PG&E for putting him and his community in this position.
"When you start hitting three, four and five days, we're not used to that. I mean, we're used to the television and the cell phones and the food being in the refrigerator. PG&E has set us back 200 years!" he said. "I think that's unfair and I'm absolutely pissed about it and so is the community."
He said all people can do is prepare.
In May, PG&E sent notices to cities about its expanded Public Safety Power Shutoff Program. Because November’s deadly Camp Fire was caused by equipment on one of the utility company’s large transmission lines, PG&E expanded its power shutoff program to include de-energizing the big lines, in addition to the smaller neighborhood distribution lines that were included in a power shutoff plan PG&E had last year.
Because transmission lines are like the backbone of a power grid, de-energizing one in a fire-prone area may still affect power customers in the Central Valley, for example, where fire danger is lower.
Manteca held a city council meeting in June, where a PG&E representative explained the Public Safety Power Shutoff plan to community leaders and a meeting room packed with people who live in the area.
"Let me be a little crude. The people in this town are pissed," Manteca Mayor Ben Cantu told PG&E representative Dylan George. “How do you address a person who has a freezer full of food and it's going to spoil in a couple of days. Who's going to pay for that?"
PG&E is not paying for that, George said.
"We're out here trying everything we can to tell people to be prepared for this kind of scenario. Whether that means, you know, you have to pump water ahead of time and store it. Whether that means back-up generation, if that's something that you can afford or that's available to you,” George replied.
Councilmember Gary Singh asked George what happens if the power outage lasts up to five days, as PG&E has told the city it could.
“What happens to all the businesses that don't have backup generators? And what happens at night when everything is off and everybody's looting and, you know, breaking windows,” Singh asked, to applause from the audience. “Where's the safety side?"
"There are going to be impacts,” George admitted. “When you take away power, there are going to be public safety impacts, there are going to be economic impacts to it."
At that June meeting, Singh expressed concerns about the costs the city will incur as it prepares to survive a multiple-day power shutoff.
Last week, city leaders told ABC10 they’re setting aside $80,000 in anticipation of the shutoffs, to buy more portable backup generators.
"We have no control over it, all we can do it prepare for it," said David Marques, battalion chief for the Manteca Fire Department.
Manteca is in the midst of a years-long fight to get off PG&E’s power grid and adopt local South San Joaquin Irrigation District as its electricity provider.
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