Assemblymember Patty Berg, representing the 1st Assembly District which includes a large portion of the north coast heavily hit by power outages during the recent December storms is taking the lead in an attempt to have PG&E reimburse customers for losses. Berg – though not a member of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce – attended the informational hearing held by the Committee at the State Capitol on January 14th. There, she told representatives from PG&E that customers should not have to bare the entire burden of their losses for such things as food spoiled in refrigerators and freezers not working as well as water damage from non-operational sump pumps during the prolonged power outages.

Berg stated, “My district office in Sonoma County received many calls from senior citizens without heat and water for days on end and frustrated citizens who seemed unable to get answers from PG&E.” She added, “after going through what was a frustrating time and at worst a potentially dangerous experience, these customers should at the very least be reimbursed for the tangible loss of food and other damage.”

Some 35, 000 customers in Sonoma County and 23,000 customers in Lake and Mendocino Counties were without power for upwards of 7 days or longer. Heavy rain and high winds caused the outages. Most of the problems were in the west Sonoma County area where power outages are fairly common in the winter but it is unusual to have an outage last a full week or more.

Assemblymember Berg met with PG&E representatives in her Sonoma County district office recently. Agreements were made with regard to how claims are to be handled. In order to expedite the claims process, Berg persuaded PG & E to provide a direct contact person for customers who are filing claims. Zeke Jahn will be the contact person for PG&E claims in Santa Rosa. He can be reached at 707-577-7163. PG&E representatives stressed that those filing claims should be as specific as possible and do not need to present all receipts.

Berg’s office will be assisting constituents who wish to file a claim with PG&E. Claim forms can be downloaded from Assemblymember Berg’s website, located at: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/. Berg also said constituents should feel free to call her District Office at 707-576-2526 with any questions or to receive a claim form.