By Jennifer Henderson
A PG&E representative last week assured the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group that Valley residents this winter can expect faster response to blackouts.
The promise should come as a relief to Valley residents, many of whom lost power to their homes -- in some cases for days at a time -- during last winter's storms.
Steve Woodward, maintenance and operations director for PG&E's North Bay Division, acknowledged that the magnitude of the storms "caught [PG&E] unprepared in several key areas."
Although PG&E had installed what the company called a "state-of-the-art" phone center with an 800 number, the system broke down under the overwhelming number of calls during storms, Woodward said. As a result, many West Marin residents could not get through when they called.
In an effort to provide better service, PG&E has increased the number of lines into their phone system by 40 percent and has hired an additional 250 operators, Woodward said.
Because West Marin towns are so isolated, Woodward said, PG&E plans to have an operator at the fire station dispatch center in Woodacre 24 hours a day during storms.
"Now if a patron experiences a PG&E-related emergency and cannot get through to the 1-800 number," he said, "they can call 911, and the calls will automatically roll over to the PG&E operator."
Many West Marin Valley residents have blamed last year's poor service on PG&E's layoff of 3,000 employees statewide in 1994. The utility company had written 800 pink slips in 1995 before the March storms devastated West Marin.
Woodward noted that local storm dam age is typically caused by falling trees, and called the company's past tree-trimming budget "woefully inadequate."
Planning Group member Jean Berensmeier said she liked what she heard. "I thought he did a very good job," she said. "I was very impressed that they acknowledged that they were not prepared for those calls last year and admitted that downsizing at that time was absolutely wrong."