October 9, 2019 - Congressman Tom McClintock statement in response to PG&E’s cutoff of power to customers.

I realize that PG&E is caught in a Hobson’s choice, but I do not support its decision for preventative power cut-offs due to high winds.  They are balancing the possibility of a wildfire ignition due to wind damage against the certainty of deliberately causing millions of dollars of damage to their customers and creating major public safety hazards.  I expressed this opinion directly to the CEO of PG&E yesterday.

That said, we need to recognize that bad public policies are contributing to a bad decision.  Until the state government changes laws that currently hold utilities strictly liable for circumstances beyond their control, and until the state and federal governments change the laws that have made active public lands management all but impossible, we will continue to face these perils every windy day into the future, and that is unacceptable.
Source: Congressman Tom McClintock