State Sen. Steve Glazer said he plans to introduce legislation in January designed to help medical equipment and cellphone towers stay in operation during emergencies such as fires and earthquakes.
Glazer, D-Orinda, said he plans separate bills to require mobile phone companies to provide at least 72 hours of backup battery power on their cell towers and to require utilities to provide backup battery packs to all
customers whose lives would be endangered by an extended power outage.
Another proposal would allow hospitals to operate diesel generators to preserve power and for as long as necessary during planned shutoffs. Running such generators, Glazer said, can get hospitals and other agencies in trouble with local air quality regulators.
“Our most urgent priority is to force the utilities to do everything possible to end these outages,” Glazer said in a statement.
He was referring to PG&E’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which are being done to help minimize fire danger caused by the utility’s equipment. In a subsequent interview, Glazer said it would also apply to unplanned outages, such as ones that could occur in an earthquake or other natural disaster.
“Until we have that assurance, we must also do all we can to help our residents deal with any power outages that do occur,” Glazer said.
Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, agreed, saying these measures are needed to help counter PG&E’s planned shutoffs, caused at least in part by what she said was “PG&E’s many years of neglect, deferred
maintenance and greed.”
Clearly something that should have been done long ago in the infrastructure.
I know some people will tell us that “Back in my day…” – LOL, well, of course, those days are gone and we have moved on.
How about whale blubber and some hurricane lights, too? Maybe they can do the soup can and string phones, too.
This is right after California decides ban use of all Ham radio repeaters unless operators pay the state massive fees. Then our firerighters get stuck in a fire with verizon throttling their data and no way to communicate.
Must be getting near an election, Glazer returns. Nice to see he has another whipping boy besides BART. Once again, politicians stating the obvious
Is someone going to run against him in the next election? I hope so,
Some of what Glazer recommends should have been in place long ago.
But the real problem, as I see it, is keeping the power on, not shutting it off because PG&E didn’t do its job and maintain the power lines properly.
PG&E needs to be fixed more than anything else right now.
The very first step is the make PG&E accountable to the people who pay the rates, not shareholders.
Hey man better than sticking an obscene number of electric cars EVERYWHERE.
Engineering will have to do the complete designs. No sense in working on live wires. BE PATIENT.
Really ? ? ? ? Because the free market doesn’t work ? ?
Saw generators with cell phone provider logos on side of them during the “outages”.
Senator should realize or perhaps his staff should enlighten him as to what happens during a disaster emergency, cell phone system becomes overloaded and useless.
OR is this going to be a legislated way for providers to write off the cost of back up power systems. An surely legislation won’t have taxpayers footing the bill.
By the way senator, look forward to your day glow explanation for your vote in demand for Trump tax records. Immaturity seems to be rampant in CA state legislature.
An still say Texas has correct model for legislature, theirs meets on odd numbered years and then only for 140 calendar days. Just enough time to get the people’s business done but not enough time for stupid knee jerk bills.
I tell you one thing Original, people and their bad habits waste an enormous amount of power and resources. Sooner or later corrections have had to of been made.