News and articles

November 5, 2014

Paso Robles, Calif. — When Mother Nature strikes, will your business be ready? That was the focus today of an emergency preparedness workshop for San Luis Obispo County businesses that was hosted by the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce and sponsored in part by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

During the first annual "Save Your Business from Disaster and Survival Plan" attendees learned how to prepare a business for a disaster, resources available and how first responders, including PG&E, will support local recovery.

At the gathering, PG&E representatives discussed utility operations, emergency planning, as well as how the company works to restore power after a disaster. A presentation on how the PG&E local Operations Emergency Centre functions and supports the County's response in the event of an emergency was also provided.

Among the presenters was Dan Rizzo, PG&E Superintendent of Electric Operations in San Luis Obispo County, who discussed what goes on behind the scenes of an electrical outage.

"In the event of an emergency, PG&E will respond quickly and safely to restore power and address critical needs in our communities," said Rizzo. "But preparing for a disaster starts at the individual and business level. Knowing what to do and how to be ready makes all the difference in successfully weathering what Mother Nature might throw our way."

To demonstrate resources PG&E might use to help a community recover from a disaster, company representatives provided forum attendees with tours of the PG&E Mobile Command Vehicle (MCV). During a large electric outage or another emergency, the MCV can be used to coordinate the utility' electric recovery operations and response onsite, and is stocked with communications and other instrumentation to support such efforts.

"The Mobile Command Vehicle is a terrific asset for PG&E," said Rizzo. "It allows us to enhance how we respond in an emergency and to coordinate our efforts within the company and with local first responders, including law enforcement and fire agencies. This helps to speed up the restoration of our electric system and ensure it is done in a safe manner for our customers.

The Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce forum also featured displays by local first responders, including The Red Cross, who along with PG&E encouraged forum attendees to create an emergency preparedness plan and kit to keep family members and employees safe in a disaster.

Get Prepared

Safety is the top priority at PG&E, including the safety of its customers and employees. As such, the utility regularly participates in local and state emergency preparedness events throughout its Northern and Central California territory.

To further public safety in San Luis Obispo County, PG&E helped create the Sheriff's Task Force on Public Safety in 2013.The goal of the task force is to raise public awareness and increase collaboration and communication in hopes of establishing the County as the most prepared in the country when it comes to disaster preparedness and response.

The utility also provides emergency planning tips to its customers throughout the year. To learn how to make an emergency plan and a disaster kit, or what to do in an earthquake and how to prevent wildfires, visit PG&E's emergency preparedness webpage at https://www.pge.com/en_US/safety/emergency-preparedness/emergency-preparedness.page.

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 utilities 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 http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.