By Brian Babcock
Gilroy
– Being five days into a sweltering heat wave and without power
since Saturday has some residents angry and frustrated. Now, those
without power are saying they have had enough with PG
&
amp;E, and the electrical company itself is frustrated with the
situation.
Gilroy – Being five days into a sweltering heat wave and without power since Saturday has some residents angry and frustrated. Now, those without power are saying they have had enough with PG&E, and the electrical company itself is frustrated with the situation.
A slew of feelings start to boil up when residents talk about the electrical company they think has purposefully left them in the dark, literally.
Those living on Quail Walk Drive, in northwest Gilroy, have been without power for three full days, beginning the night of July 22. After numerous calls to a toll-free line left residents believing they would have their power restored, neighbors have now given up calling PG&E.
One resident, Sue Costa, who lives on nearby Eagles Nest Lane, became so fed up with the electrical company that she called Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage to let him know what the neighborhood is going through. Gage said he immediately notified PG&E representatives and told them to call the resident to update her on the situation.
“They’ve been stretched all over the place, which is why they probably haven’t responded to people like they should have,” Gage said about the company. “I let them know that we have a priority down here.”
At 3pm power returned for Costa,, but residents on Quail Walk Drive were still without power at press time.
Residents said they understand that PG&E has gone through some unforeseen problems with the transformers. What they want, though, is for the company to just be clear about when the power will truly be back on.
By 6pm Tuesday, the number of homes affected by the power outages was reduced from 847 to 697 in Gilroy, according to PG&E officials. Although some progress had been made, another blown transformer set them back.
Between Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Jose, there are 162 damaged transformers. The transformers have been malfunctioning due to the heat.
“I’ll say this: I’m angry because PG&E isn’t being honest with us,” said Damian Bortolotti, a resident of Quail Walk Drive. “If they just would have said that we were a low priority, sorry, we just would have left town.”
Kelly Bortolotti, Damian’s wife, said she is completely annoyed with the company and although PG&E has said the neighborhood should have power by Tuesday night, she has ceased to believe them.
“I’m pissed; there is no doubt about it,” she said. “If they just told us the truth about it we could have made better choices.”
Jeff Smith, spokesman for PG&E, said he sympathizes with what residents are going through. He said it has been a very odd situation since the transformers keep failing one after the other.
He did, however, want to put to rest the idea that the company has been lying to its customers and added that the way PG&E distributes its information may have to change.
“I can assure them that no one is lying,” Smith said. “I do apologize for the inconvenience and it is completely unacceptable and just shows that the system is ineffective and needs to be looked at.”
Mary Biafor said it is becoming a dangerous situation and that she is starting to lose her patience with the electrical company. Her elderly mother is visiting and she hopes the heat does not affect her health.
During this “unbearable” event Dan Marine has been using his trailer, which is sitting in front of his home. He said he has been spending about six hours a day in the trailer, cooking food and watching television.
“I stopped (calling). It’s just frustrating,” Marine said. “They put out these announcements and they are arbitrarily saying the power will be on sometime between 8 and 10. I know that they have their hands full, but we have to look out for ourselves. You just have to bark as loud as you can to be heard.”
Marine said he has not found the PG&E announcements useful at all, and that he does not care about how they have helped others around town get their power back on. He said he cares about what is going on in his neighborhood and that the blazing heat has not helped him stay patient.
“The worst part about it was that it went out at the most inconvenient time,” he said.
Brian Babcock is an intern who recently graduated from San Francisco State University. You can reach him at 847-7240 or [email protected].
