SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) crews are being deployed to help
restore power to Floridians impacted by Hurricane Irma.
About 125 PG&E employees, including line workers, equipment operators,
supervisors and support personnel, will fly from California to Florida
today as part of the Hurricane Irma response team. Crews from throughout
PG&E’s 70,000-square-mile service area will travel to Florida as part of
a mutual-aid agreement with Florida Power & Light (FPL) to support
restoration efforts.
“When major earthquakes struck Napa in 2014 and the Bay Area in 1989,
and when Super Storm Sandy wreaked havoc on the Eastern Seaboard in
2012, our employees stepped up to help those in need. Safely restoring
power to customers affected by major disasters such as a wildfire,
hurricane or earthquake begins the process of returning life back to
normal for communities," said Nick Stavropoulos, President and Chief
Operating Officer of PG&E. “It's our job and commitment to do this for
our customers in California, and we're happy to be able to extend our
efforts to those in Florida impacted by Hurricane Irma.”
In 2014, PG&E and FPL signed an historic, cross-continent mutual-aid
agreement, pledging support in the event of a major natural disaster,
such as an earthquake in California or a hurricane in Florida. Besides
the commitment of personnel, the agreement between PG&E and FPL includes
logistics, common work procedures and safety protocols. This marks the
second time this agreement has been activated. The first was for
Hurricane Matthew, last fall, when PG&E crews were prepared to go to
Florida but ultimately weren’t needed. Per the agreement, FPL as the
host utility will cover the costs of this support.
According to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Irma is a potentially
catastrophic, Category 5 hurricane with maximum winds of 185 mph. Irma
could make landfall in Florida over the weekend.
PG&E crews will depart for Florida today from the Sacramento area. You
can follow the work of our crews on Currents
and via social media @pge4me,
@pge_andrea
and @pge_mayra
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of
the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company