Locals without power for days fed up with lack of communication
from PG
&
amp;E
Gilroy – Five days into a sweltering heat wave and without power since Saturday has some residents angry and frustrated. Now, those without power are saying they have had enough with PG&E and the electrical company itself is frustrated with how it disseminates information.
A slew of feelings start to boil up when residents talk about the electrical company they think has purposefully left them in the dark, literally.
Those living on Quail Walk Drive, in northwest Gilroy, have been without power for three full days, beginning Saturday night. After numerous calls to a toll free line left residents believing they would have their power restored, neighbors have now given up calling PG&E.
Sue Costa, who lives on nearby Eagles Nest Lane, became so fed up with the electrical company that she called Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage to let him know what the neighborhood is going through. Gage said he immediately notified a PG&E representative and told them to call the resident to update them on the situation.
“They’ve been stretched all over the place, which is why they probably haven’t responded to people like they should have,” Gage said about the company. “I let them know that we have a priority down here.”
At 3pm Tuesday, the power came back on for Costa, while the residents on Quail Walk Drive were still without power at press time.
Residents said they understand PG&E has gone through some unforeseen problems with the transformers. What they want, though, is for the company to just be clear about when the power will truly be back on.
By 6pm Tuesday, the number of homes affected by the power outages was reduced from 847 to 697 in Gilroy, according to PG&E officials. Although some progress had been made Tuesday, another blown transformer set them back.
Between Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Jose, there are 162 damaged transformers. The transformers have been malfunctioning due to the heat, not anything consumers have done.
“I’ll say this, I’m angry, because PG&E isn’t being honest with us,” said Damian Bortolotti, a resident of Quail Walk Drive. “If they just would have said that we were a low priority, sorry, we just would have left town.”
Kelly Bortolotti, Damian’s wife, said she is completely annoyed with the company and although PG&E has said the neighborhood should have power by Tuesday night, she has ceased to believe them.
“I’m pissed, there is no doubt about it,” she said. “If they just told us the truth about it we could have made better choices.”
Kelly Bortolotti said the power outage has caused an extra inconvenience as the temperatures are still hovering above 100 degrees. Tuesday’s temperatures peaked at 107 degrees, just two degrees cooler than Monday’s 109.
She said there was no ice to be found in Gilroy or Morgan Hill Monday. The couple drove to San Jose where they eventually had to ask a 7-Eleven attendant for ice out of the soda machine.
The Bortolottis are not the only frustrated residents.
“I’ve talked to everybody and they lie to you,” said Fred Ziemann. “(PG&E) hasn’t done a thing. I don’t think they could or will.”
Ziemann said that he had been staying at his daughter’s house until Tuesday morning when the power went out at her house due to another transformer malfunction.
Jeff Smith, spokesperson for PG&E, said that he sympathizes with what residents are going through. He said it has been a very odd situation since the transformers keep failing one after the other.
He did, however, want to put to rest the idea that the company has been lying to its customers and added that the way PG&E distributes its information may have to change.
“I can assure them that no one is lying,” Smith said. “I do apologize for the inconvenience and it is completely unacceptable and just shows that the system is ineffective and needs to be looked at.”
Mary Biafor said that it is becoming a dangerous situation and that she is starting to lose her patience with the electrical company. Her elderly mother is visiting and she wants to make sure that the heat does not affect her health.
Biafor said she just wishes PG&E had been honest with her so she could have donated her food from her refrigerator that she now has to throw away.
During this “unbearable” event Dan Marine has been using his trailer that is sitting in front of his home. He said he has been spending about six hours a day in the trailer, cooking food and watching television.
“I stopped (calling). It’s just frustrating,” Marine said. “They put out these announcements and they are arbitrarily saying the power will be on some time between 8 and 10. I know that they have their hands full, but we have to look out for ourselves. You just have to bark as loud as you can to be heard.”
Marine said that he has not found the PG&E announcements useful at all, saying he does not care about how they have helped others around town get their power on. He said he cares about what is going on in his neighborhood and that the blazing heat has not helped with staying patient.
“The worst part about it was that it went out at the most inconvenient time,” he said.
