Silicon Valley congressman: California should take control of PG&E as wildfire blackouts persist

• “I would have them as a public utility,” says California Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat whose district spans Silicon Valley.

• “When you have a state that has Apple, Google and Tesla in it, there is no excuse that we can’t get power to our people on a regular basis,” says Khanna.

• PG&E was switching power off again Tuesday — this time, to about 1.5 million people in 29 Northern California counties — as wildfires ravage parts of the state.

California Rep. Ro Khanna told CNBC on Tuesday the government should take control of PG&E as the nation’s largest utility puts millions of state residents in the dark in hopes of preventing more wildfires.

“I would have them as a public utility,” said Khanna, a Democrat whose district spans Silicon Valley. “They have failed to make the investments in the infrastructure. The regulators are too loose.”

“It’s time for the state to take ownership of PG&E, and make sure that they are doing what they need to do to keep the power on and keep people safe,” he added.

PG&E was switching power off again Tuesday — this time, to about 1.5 million people in 29 Northern California counties — as wildfires ravage parts of the state. The utility said Monday its power lines may have started two wildfires over the weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area.

www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/california-rep-ro-khanna-the-state-should-take-control-of-pacific-gas-and-electric.html