PG&E executives to appear before California regulatory board

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Top executives of California’s largest utility are expected at an emergency meeting Friday to answer questions by state regulators about a massive pre-emptive power shutdown last week that has been criticized as poorly executed and unacceptable.

The meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco comes as outrage grows against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The utility cut off power to more than 2 million people in northern and central California Oct. 9, saying that high wind forecasts could have damaged equipment and sparked wildfires.

In a letter to PG&E chief executive Bill Johnson issued earlier this week, commission President Marybel Batjer scolded the utility for an “unacceptable situation” and ordered a series of corrective actions, including a goal of restoring power within 12 hours, not the utility’s current 48-hour goal.