The Los Angeles Post

Supervisor Alan Wong demands accountability after PG&E hearing raises serious questions about preventable outage

by ·

SAN FRANCISCO – Following today’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing on the PG&E substation fire and widespread power outage that disrupted thousands of San Franciscans, Supervisor Alan Wong called for stronger accountability, greater transparency, and meaningful action as the committee’s oversight continues pending PG&E’s final root cause findings and follow-up hearing.

Today’s hearing focused on PG&E’s independent investigation into the incident, including the likely direct cause identified to date, maintenance conditions at the affected substation, emergency response coordination, and immediate corrective actions being implemented across San Francisco substations. PG&E indicated that its full root cause analysis remains ongoing, and the committee expects the hearing process to continue once those final findings are complete.

“Today’s hearing raised serious questions about preventable warning signs, maintenance practices, emergency response protocols, and whether stronger safeguards should have already been in place,” said Supervisor Alan Wong. “San Franciscans deserve clear answers, and this conversation is not over.”

During the hearing, PG&E acknowledged multiple “unacceptable” conditions at the substation, including moisture-related concerns, maintenance deficiencies, and environmental control gaps, while confirming that corrective measures such as humidity monitoring, temperature controls, dehumidification, and broader equipment inspections are now being implemented across San Francisco substations.

Supervisor Alan Wong raised concerns about why these safeguards were not already standard practice before the outage and questioned delays in emergency notification to the San Francisco Fire Department after the incident was detected.

“When critical infrastructure fails, every minute matters,” said Supervisor Alan Wong. “That applies to protecting first responders, restoring service, and maintaining public trust.”

Supervisor Alan Wong also emphasized the continued impact on residents and small businesses that experienced disruptions, financial losses, and ongoing frustration navigating PG&E’s claims process.

“For a utility, this may be an operational incident. For a neighborhood small business, it can mean spoiled inventory, lost revenue, canceled appointments, payroll stress, and lasting uncertainty,” said Supervisor Alan Wong. “Accountability must include real support for the people who continue to bear those consequences.”

The hearing also raised broader concerns about deferred maintenance, systemwide reliability, and whether similar vulnerabilities may exist elsewhere in PG&E’s infrastructure.

“Residents are hearing that lessons have been learned, but trust is earned through performance, transparency, and accountability,” said Supervisor Alan Wong. “If significant systemwide improvements are now being made, the public deserves to understand why it took a major outage to get here.”

Supervisor Alan Wong called on PG&E to:

  • Provide clear public timelines for completing reliability upgrades across San Francisco substations
  • Strengthen emergency notification and coordination protocols with first responders
  • Improve transparency around maintenance conditions, inspections, and systemwide vulnerabilities
  • Simplify and accelerate claims support for impacted residents and small businesses
  • Return to the Board of Supervisors with a public progress update following completion of the final root cause report

“Significant questions remain,” said Supervisor Alan Wong. “This committee’s oversight will continue through the final root cause findings and future hearings until the public has the answers and accountability it deserves.”